Risks
by fangsallmine1123
Summary: Fang jerked the side of his jacket and t-shirt away from his neck and there was a small mark on his shoulder. A mark. From where I'd kissed him last night. In my dream. Fax. Post-FANG. [Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. All rights reserved to James Patterson. No infringement or copyright intended.]
1. Chapter 1

**Risks**

**Disclaimer****: Listen up, 'cause I'm only doing this ONCE. I do not own Maximum Ride. The characters and their background story belong to James Patterson. **

**Warning: After **_**Fang.**_

**Summary: Fang jerked the side of his jacket and t-shirt away from his neck and there was a small mark on his shoulder. A hickey. From where I'd kissed him last night. In my dream. Fax. Post-FANG. **

MAX

_It isn't real. It can't be real. _

_Max stares at him, thinking that it is almost too good to be true. _

_She pauses before him in her tank top and cotton shorts for only a moment longer before moving closer. His body radiates heat, as always. She touches his face, moving her hand down his cheek, neck, and over his chest. He was so familiar. Almost as if he had never left. Almost as if he had never broken her heart. _

"_Max," he whispers, pulling her closer. She feels it; the muscles in his arms contract and relax around her. The beating of his heart hammering against hers. The burning touch of his fingers as they grip her waist where her shirt has ridden up. It's so real, so him, oh, God…_

"_I miss you," she says, because she feels this _something _compelling her to let him see how hurt she is. His eyes soften and let her in a bit, into his mind, like old times, and she can see that he's hurt, too. She wants to cry. _

_She would never do this in real life. In reality, she'd feign strength and pride and try to hurt him with every cold glance and rude comment. She would've spent all her time hurting him like he hurt her. She would've yelled, and screamed, and boy, would she have beaten the _crap _out of that sorry dirt bag. _

_But this is a dream. _

_She doesn't resist him when he holds her head higher, and she lets him pull her to lean on his chest. She allows his soft lips to fall on hers. Because she misses this. She misses being together like this. She feels deprived, as if she'd been going through withdrawal, but now he is back, he is her drug, and he is pulling at her. Getting her addicted again. _

_It's like…oh, God, it's like he's never kissed her before. Not like this. He spins her around and crashes her against the wall; his hands cradle her with a gentleness she hasn't felt in weeks. _

"_Fang." His name falls from her lips as her mouth move to his collarbone. The sudden urge to hear his name, to hear it bounce off the walls and fill the room makes her say it again, against his hot skin. _

"_Fang."_

_She hasn't said his name since…_

_He presses closer, not sure what she wants. She knows what she wants. She pulls his mouth up to hers, making her want known. His arms snake around her tighter and lift her up, bringing her even closer. His teeth tug on her bottom lip gently. _

"_Max," he whispers, almost longingly, but he's blurry now. _

_It's all blurry-_

BEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEP.

I smacked at my alarm clock until I hit the snooze button and threw my covers off, knowing that one more second and I'd feel the gravitational pull of my bed tugging at me. I glanced down at my pajamas, the exact outfit I'd been wearing in my oddly detailed dream. The blue tank and shorts were an old set from Ella, who'd grown out of them. The shorts were way too short due to the fact that I was way taller than she was, but I was unusually skinny whereas she was, well, normal.

Trying not to think about all the ways she was normal and I was not, I climbed into the shower. My mouth felt numb, as if Fang had actually bitten me. I touched my bottom lip, hoping I wasn't going insane. And wishing I could just get him out of my mind.

I found myself wishing that a lot lately.

Downstairs, it was a complete madhouse. Combined with the safety issue of Mom's old house (everyone knew where we were, it was like painting a target on her roof and putting a sign in the yard that said 'Attack us!'), plus the fact that she was offered an incredible job here at an animal hospital, she and Ella had packed up and moved. We all live here, in this bigger house in a more secluded part of Colorado. Dylan talked me into enrolling us in school here, which was a huge lapse of focus and consideration on my part. We had only been in this new town for almost a month, about as long as we've gone without Fang around.

But apparently that was long enough.

Today was like any other Monday. Mom had already left for work, so Iggy was in charge of breakfast. Or, he was supposed to be. Instead, he was passed out on the couch, just plain embarrassing to look at. His leg was hanging off the side of the couch; his mouth was wide open, even snorting occasionally…

"God, Iggy, get _up_," I muttered, smacking him with a pillow. He startled awake with a snort.

Ella had taken over his station in the kitchen, skillfully flipping pancakes while Dylan divvied them up between plates. He gave me a sweet smile and his eyes brightened when I walked into the room and my face grimaced in what could've been called an almost-smile. I grabbed a plate and starting scarfing down food.

After about ten minutes, I noticed that Nudge was nowhere to be seen. Probably changing her outfit for the zillionth time. Angel and Gazzy were chowing down, Gazzy trying to finish his math homework at the same time.

"Five minutes," I said, grabbing an apple from the basket on the table. "Nudge, it's not the first day of school anymore! You can't take three hours to get ready!"

"It was two hours and fifteen minutes," she replied, walking down the stairs. "And we were only late for one class, Max."

I rolled my eyes.

"You guys know the drill," I said as we landed in the field a block from school. "Nothing out of the ordinary, please. Gazzy, that means if you take another cheerleader's Spanx and hang them on the flag pole with 'In Spandex We Trust' written on them, there will be no mercy."

"Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if you'd seen her telling all her friends that the new blind kid was an easy target."

"You and I both know he's not, so I don't think it was necessary."

"It was hilarious," Dylan butted in, and I ignored him.

We walked down the street to our school, passing restaurants, internet cafés, and a huge park.

"We should go to that park after school," Angel said.

"Okay," I said, glancing warily at the small children running around with their supervisors only half-paying attention. I watched a little boy stumble and fall in the sand and grimaced. "We'll hit it on the way home."

Lunch was the only period we all had together. Ella, Iggy, Dylan and I sat together with a few of our 'friends'.

I sat down first, pulling out leftover homemade pizza. I brought out my water bottle from my bag and wished I could get to the front of the line at the microwave without having to wait twenty minutes.

I glanced around the large cafeteria, wondering if maybe there was another microwave no one was paying attention to. In my 360 of the room, I stopped at the window, and took another look. Squinting - which isn't really necessary when you're a mutant freak - I made out the dark familiar speck.

Of course.

I had spent a month trying to not think about him all the time. I got through three whole periods without thinking about him at all, and he chooses now to suddenly show up _outside my school_.

Somehow he knew I saw him. He pointed to the café behind him and I just wanted to rip his head off.

_No. _I said in my head. _No, no, no, no-no-no-no…_

But I found myself standing up anyways, throwing away my pizza on my way out. And I just hoped that my friends could tell the difference between my being kidnapped and my playing hooky.

• • •

It was cold outside, and I found myself wishing I'd grabbed my jacket from my locker. I slipped into the door of the café, and upon hearing the jingle from the doorbell, a busboy looked up from washing a table. Smiling, he asked me if I wanted a table or bar seat. I pointed weakly towards the corner booth that was already occupied.

I walked over to him and stood at his table, watching him. I curled my hands into fists to make sure he couldn't see me shaking.

I don't know what I expected him to say when he saw me for the first time in a month. Maybe an apology? Some kind of cliché, romantic monologue? I definitely didn't think it would be something as casual as: "That seat's not taken."

He pointed to the cushiony booth across from him. Reluctantly, my heart hammering against my ribcage, I slid into the seat. My hands were clamming up, and I wiped them on my jeans.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, ordering a hot chocolate when the boy came around for our order.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said seriously.

"C'mon," I mumbled. "That's the most cliché line I've ever heard. Seriously, Fang, _what are you doing here_?"

Fang was dressed simply, causally, as if it took no sweat to look absolutely dizzying. Which it didn't, not for him, anyways. His black leather jacket fit snugly and his hair flopped in his eyes, completing the heart-wrenchingly familiar look.

His eyes moved over me in a way that made me furious. They stopped on my lips for a moment before he made complete eye contact with me.

"We need to talk," he said, his voice deep and accustomed. My phone buzzed on the table and I looked down, seeing a text from Dylan. No doubt asking me if I was in any life-threatening danger. I clicked Ignore. Fang watched, his eyebrow raised.

"If I remember correctly, our communication skills are slightly lacking." _Since the last communication you and I had was a freaking goodbye note,_ I added in my head_. _

"Max," he warned. He leaned back in his seat and flashed me a slow, excruciating smirk, which just pretty much broke my heart all over again. "I can't believe you skipped school. I didn't think you'd do it."

I rolled my eyes. "I ditched because I figured you had some important information on world issues or a new mission or something."

"I don't," he admitted, taking the black coffee the waiter put in front of him. He opened two containers of creamer and poured them in, stirring it. "So are you going to go back to school, then?"

"What do you think I'd rather do?" I asked, swiping some of the whipped cream off the top of my mug with my finger. "Stay here and drink hot chocolate that you're so kindly paying for, or go to English class?"

"I know what the old Max would want to do," he said slowly.

"What's that?" I asked casually, as if it didn't bother me that he could read me like a book, even now. As if it didn't bother me that he was right; I was a new Max. And the old Max was long gone.

Fang didn't answer; he took one, slow drink of coffee, then set the mug aside. He stood up, threw a ten onto the table, and walked towards the door. I stared after him, trying to decided whether to follow him or not. I bit my lip, cursing myself repeatedly in my head, then slid out of the seat and went after him.

• • •

I have to admit, it had been pretty peaceful to just fly around and forget our problems. We hadn't spoken at all since we'd gotten in the air, and when we finally decided to land, our decision was made clear with a head nod towards the forest.

We landed in a field about twenty minutes from home.

"There actually is something we need to talk about," Fang said as we walked west, towards home. School had ended an hour ago. Of course, this whole time he'd actually had an agenda. He'd just been building up the courage to speak.

"I knew it," I mumbled, kicking a rock off the sidewalk. "No one offers me any fun without an ulterior motive."

I knew he was grinning, but I didn't look because I also knew our day together was coming to an end. And it would just hurt to see him smile. After this, we'd be back to the way we were before - distant and awkward. Separated.

"Do you remember your dream last night?" Fang asked out of nowhere.

My eyes widened at the ground, and I shook my head to clear the shock from my mind. Pictures of Fang and I flashed in my mind and I forced myself to push the images away.

"I didn't dream last night."

"Don't lie," Fang said quietly, stopping and grabbing my wrist. "I know you remember. It's practically the only thing I've been thinking about."

"What are you talking about?" I asked harshly, yanking away. "Why's it matter, anyways?"

"You dreamed last night," Fang said. "Of me and you. God, Max, don't make me say it."

Well, then.

"I'm not in control of my subconscious-" I began to defend, but he cut me off.

"I'm not accusing you," he said.

I didn't say anything.

"We have a new power," Fang said. "You and I can share dreams."

"What?" I asked, spinning on him. "_Are you on drugs_?"

"We shared a dream last night," Fang said, and he continued to explain _my _dream in vivid detail, despite my embarrassment and constant interruptions.

When he was finished, I managed, "Okay, so how are we doing it?"

"I don't know," he said. "I just know that last night was real."

"But _how _do you know?" I asked in disbelief, still not convinced. Even after his word-by-word replay of what had happened. "How do you know for _sure_?"

Fang jerked the side of his jacket and t-shirt away from his neck and there was a small mark on his shoulder. A hickey. From where I'd kissed him last night. In my dream. It was the exact same spot. I gasped, looking up at him.

"This is a bit…much…for me to take in right now," I said, feeling as if I couldn't breath. I took a cautious step away from him. My entire protective shield came crumbling down, my heart doing a complex dance in my chest. What was the point in playing it cool if I'd already practically jumped him in a dream we both had?

No. This was not okay. It was easy for me to pretend for a few hours that there wasn't a problem. Because then I could fool myself into thinking he believed my act. I could act like I didn't care, like I didn't want him. But now?

No.

He and I had made out last night, and now it was just _weird_.

Not to mention the fact that he knew that I was _so totally not over him yet_.

Guh.

I felt embarrassed and tired. I just wanted to go home and distract myself from the hurt this was all causing me. Maybe by gorging myself with food, maybe by sleeping. Most likely both.

I pointed down the road, where a gravel road came off the main and went into the woods.

He got it. He looked like he wanted to hug me or something, but must've thought twice about it.

"I'll see you later, Max."

I turned away from him, trying not to feel his eyes burning into the back of my head. There wasn't anything I wanted more than to run back and wrap my arms around him and never let go.

But that jut wasn't possible anymore.

I did an awkward walk/run, trying to get into the safety of the woods. My sneakers crunched against the rock as I slowed down, disappearing from his gaze.

I walked up the gravel road and then made my way to the front door of the house, letting myself in. My mind and body were exhausted. I hadn't eaten except for breakfast this morning, and flying had drained a lot of my energy.

_Did I really just spend all day with Fang?_

The smell of Mexican food wafted toward me as I kicked off my shoes in the foyer and dropped my backpack by the door. I just wanted to eat a million tacos and flop into bed, hopefully forgetting this entire day and having a _dreamless _sleep.

"Maximum Ride," my name was called sternly from the kitchen, "where have you been?"

I sighed and walked into the kitchen. Each pair of eyes looked up at me, surveying my appearance. I wasn't used to getting this kind of look from my mom. I wasn't used to being expected home after school. I wasn't used to answering to a parent at all. It was all new to me, like an entirely new and different kind of confinement. The story of my life, basically.

My mother was at the stove, cooking hamburger. Her hair was tied up in a neat bun that had fallen out throughout the day. She was in brown slacks and a sweater. I walked over and leaned against the counter, ready for the questions to hit. The kids were milling around, helping prepare dinner.

"I got a few calls today," Mom said, stirring the taco meat in a huge pot. "One from Dylan. Saying you never showed up for lunch and didn't tell anyone where you were going."

I glared at Dylan, knowing he'd be the one to break down and call my mom. When he looked back at me it was gentle, worried. I rolled my eyes, pressing my hands to my temples. I couldn't do this, not now.

"Everyone was worried about you," Dylan said in defense, noticing the change in my mood.

"I can take care of myself," I began. Because the entire flock should know not to worry about me. If I get into trouble, I can get out of it myself.

"Oh, I'm not done," Mom said. "Your principle is not happy. After Gazzy's scene with the Spandex -" Iggy and Gazzy slapped high fives at the table in the corner "- he is furious with you for skipping school. I had to talk him out of suspension. You have detention next Monday."

"Good for you, Mom," I said jokingly. Seeing she wasn't amused, I kissed her cheek and stole a tortilla chip, scooping up some guacamole. "Detention is probably the easiest punishment I've ever gotten. And I'm sorry for worrying you." I almost said _It won't happen again_, but I decided against it.

"You still haven't answered my question," she said. Ella and Dylan began to move dishes to the table while Angel and Nudge came in from the back yard with Total. "Where were you?"

We all sat down, taking shells and chips and scooping condiments onto our plates. I made myself a taco, slapped Gazzy's hand away as he reached for the refried beans and said, "I was with Fang."

The clanking of dishes and crunching of chips stopped.

"_All _day?" Dylan asked, looking at me with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"We talked."

"About what?"

"Why does it matter?" I snapped. "Can we just not talk about it?"

Nudge was still curious, though.

"Did he have any information?"

"No." None that I'm sharing. Yet.

"Well then what could he possibly-"

"Want to talk to me about?" I finished for Iggy, and he looked sorry to have brought it up. "Is it so hard to believe that maybe he just wanted to see me?"

Everyone got really quiet again.

I took a deep breath. "How was your day, Angel?" I tried, changing the subject to focus on someone else.

"We didn't go to the park after school today, but I made Iggy buy me ice cream from the ice cream truck."

"What's creepier than an ice cream truck? Really," Nudge said, easily distracted. "I can't think of anything worse."

"I can," Gazzy said. "The music the ice cream truck plays." He started humming Pop Goes The Weasel.

"Alright!" I said, flinging a chip at him. His perfect imitation of the music was even creeping _me _out. "No more creepy music."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **

**halcyon . dreaming : Hmm, good question…Can't believe I didn't address this in the first chapter…silly me. Well, let's just assume it happened, but Max has better things to worry about and, well, Angel's shaped up since Fang left. I was actually basing this story as if it picked up after Jeb told Max and Dyl to have little birdies…but that's brought up in this chapter. So let's just say it's the same as the beginning of Angel was: she started being a sweet littler piece of heaven when Fang left and Max kind of fell apart. Thanks for the review, btw!**

**So, I said every week, but…I figure if I put more chapters up I might catch more attention…And you all know I'm an attention hog and such…**

**If you like, go ahead and check out **_**Internet Fiasco**_**. Undoubtedly my best story on here. It's almost over, too, and I think I'm going to update in a couple days. **

**Enjoy!**

Well, whatever. I found out that I can share dreams with my ex-boyfriend/ex-best friend? _Still _have to go to school. That's life, whatever. I think I'm totally getting used to the whole fate-hates-my-guts thing.

I tried not to contemplate the fact that the Bane of My Existence can now invade my dreams (read: nightmares), because, _hello_, is nothing sacred anymore? First my thoughts, overrun by my Voice and Angel, then enter the whole entire freaking world (or mine, at least), seemed to have an opinion about my love life and how I should operate, and now my dreams.

But, despite my overwhelming sense of impatience today, I went to school. I presented my History project in front of the entire class, gritting my teeth and ignoring the way Iggy snickered as I stumbled over my words. I had to walk down the hallway with Dylan while girls glared at me. Get off my back, ladies.

Thank God the day was almost over.

I made a mental note to leave Mom's before Christmas, which was in about two weeks. I knew Mom loved having us, but it was definitely a burden to take care of six more kids and balance work. We'd leave and come back to spend Christmas day with her and Ella, then we could move on to somewhere else.

"…need to complete this assignment by tomorrow…"

Somewhere we didn't have to go to school.

The bell rang, punctuating Mr. Malloy's monologue. "Pick up your packet on your way out!"

I sighed, scooping my backpack off the ground next to my desk and slinging it over my shoulder.

"Max," Mr. Malloy called from his desk.

I turned around, wishing I could save myself the heart-to-heart and just smack my head against the wall. Or, you know, run outside and get hit by a bus.

"I heard you ditched yesterday," he said, piling papers into different stacks. "Which doesn't make sense, because we both know that your all-time favorite subject is English."

Just because today wasn't casual Tuesday didn't mean that Mr. Malloy was wearing a suit. He was reclined in his rolling chair, wearing a blue t-shirt with some punch line of some joke that I didn't get and blue jeans.

"It may be hard to believe, but I had somewhere better to be," I said.

"I don't know, what would be better than coming to my class?" he inquired, smiling.

I paused. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Well, don't let it happen again. I'd hate to see the wrath of Principle Jacobs come down on you."

I mentally agreed that wouldn't be pretty.

"I have to go," I said.

"Have a good day, Max."

I made my way out of the classroom and down the hall, pushing through tons of oblivious teenagers. Okay, yeah, you're awesome; you've got swag, please get out of my _way_…

Once I was on the front steps of the school, I spotted the flock waiting for me under a big tree in the front yard of the school. Dylan stepped forward out of the group and started walking toward me, his teeth showcased in a glowing smile that knocked out pretty much every girl in the immediate vicinity.

I guess I should consider myself lucky to have a guy like that pining for my attention. My issue is I don't consider myself lucky about anything, let alone the fact that Dylan was programmed to put the moves on me. I guess I'm just spoiled.

I tore my eyes away from Dylan's charming face and glanced around. Just because I was at school didn't mean I was going to stop that quirky, loveable trait I have that makes me as paranoid as a schizoid.

And, if I must admit it, I was kind of hoping to spot Fang. Maybe his appearance wasn't a one-time thing.

Which, obviously, it wasn't.

I saw him, alright. He was standing with another guy and two other girls, all looking like strangers. He was staring right at me from across the street. Two other people, whose faces I couldn't see, walked over to them and join them. Fang doesn't even acknowledge them. He watched me, barely raising his eyebrows. Glancing once at Dylan before focusing on me again. Probably wondering how I'm going to handle this particular situation.

But I didn't care what he thought. Or, I didn't want to care. So I grabbed Dylan's hand anyways.

I looked away from him when Dylan twisted his fingers with mine, pulling me close as he put his arm around my shoulders. I didn't look over for a long time. When I finally did, Fang was gone.

A sick feeling settled permanently in my stomach as Dylan held my hand long after we left the parking lot.

• • •

The following Saturday, I ducked through my window, my throat dry and my hair tangled by the wind. It was dark out and I could already smell dinner cooking. My stomach growled as I kicked off my shoes and made my way downstairs.

My socked-feet padded against the linoleum, and I looked around the kitchen.

The flock was walking around the kitchen, grabbing glasses and plates and seconds and thirds. Gazzy had a stacked plate in front of him at the table and looked like a kid in a candy store. Mom was looking at the calendar and her palm pilot, seeming distracted as she sat at the table. I walked towards the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of orange juice, feeling dehydrated.

"Orange juice and burgers, Max?" Gazzy asked, amused.

"_I'm sorry, man," the boy said, looking as if he didn't really care. He pushed on a pair of Aviators and pulled up his hood. "This isn't exactly what I signed up for."_

"_Yeah, Fang," another girl said from the boy's side. She had dark, cold blue eyes and blonde hair. "I just…can't." _

_They were both familiar. They were two of the people who had been with Fang outside school._

"_Don't say a word about anything, to _anyone_," Fang hissed, looking irritated. "That goes for you, too. Get out now if you want out. No going back after this."_

_The two others looked at him. One a skinny, geeky looking guy, who looked towards Fang with a determined expression. "No way, man. I'm in for the win."_

_Another girl with long, glossy hair glanced from the blonde to Fang. "I-"_

"_Go, Kate," Fang growled, pointing to the boy and girl who'd declared their disloyalty. He left it at that. _

_Kate looked guilty, but walked off with the other two. The last boy looked after them in disgust. "Those wimps."_

"_They would've held us back, anyways," a new voice said. For the first time, she was in sight. _

_Max. _

_But it wasn't…quite her. _

_She had her face, her voice, her everything. But she had bright purple sunglasses tucked into her hair and a long strip of bright pink hair falling down her shoulder. She put her hand - Max's hand - on Fang's shoulder and leaned against him._

_Max II. _

"_So, Fang," she said, flashing him a grin. "What's the plan?" _

"Max!"

I opened my eyes and saw the kitchen. The cream colored walls, the bright bay window over the sink. Iggy stood at the counter, dressing his own burger, and the rest of the flock stared at me from various spots in the room. There was a puddle of orange juice on the floor and the carton was lying on its side on the white tile.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"What is going on with you?" Dylan demanded, standing in front of me.

"Ignore him," Nudge whispered to me reassuringly, as if I were a little kid. She bent down with a towel to wipe up the juice.

"Max?" Angel asked, sounding unsure.

"Did you see it?" I asked her.

"See what?" Angel said. "Your mind just went blank all of the sudden."

I looked around, realizing I was making a scene. "Its fine, I'm good. I guess I was just daydreaming."

No one looked convinced, but my mind was whirling and I forced myself to block Angel out. She frowned, looking at her plate, but didn't say anything for fear of being scolded for trying to eavesdrop.

I couldn't believe he had the nerve to recruit Max II. Leave me for another me? How was that even fair? And then he comes back, and acts all smug and friendly…

The phone rang from the wall, and Nudge looked at the caller ID.

"Blocked. Should we answer it, or-"

"Give it to me," I said. She handed the phone to me.

I pushed the call button and blurted, "Do you have something to tell me?"

I don't even know how I knew it was him, I just did. His even breathing on the other end was enough confirmation. I noticed my audience paying close attention, so I slipped out of the house and stood on the porch.

"Max," he said, sounding relieved. "I had a feeling…You okay?"

"Do you have something to tell me, Fang?" I asked again, ignoring his concern.

"I haven't been sleeping too much because of watch," he explained. "Sorry if you missed me."

I heard his smirk but wasn't amused.

"The dreams aren't what I'm talking about," I said. "But maybe you'd get more sleep if you let _my clone _do watch." I hung up.

Before I could scream in frustration and throw the phone as hard as I could, I saw a dark SUV driving up the road to the house.

I went inside the door and hung up the phone. "Iggy, go put some pants on. We have company."

Mom looked up from her schedule and said, "Don't worry, it's just Jeb."

"I don't get it. Do I need pants, or no?" Iggy joked, motioning to his blue striped boxers. I had no idea why he was wearing his boxers to dinner and didn't have the patience to ask.

I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Were we expecting him?"

"He said he had something important to say to you," Mom said, distracted.

"Right, like the week after Fang left when he decided he wanted me to have kids with Dylan?"

She sighed and I sighed, too, deciding not to pursue an argument. She was stressed right now, and I honestly shouldn't have been creating more tension.

Jeb didn't knock. He stepped into the hallway and hung up his jacket. Then he walked into the kitchen, rubbing his hands together. "I think it's going to snow," Jeb said.

"Here." Mom held out a mug of coffee to him and he took it thankfully.

"You had something to talk to me about?" I asked expectantly.

"Good to see you too," he said. "Your mom told me you skipped school Monday."

"Gee, is it on the news yet?" I asked, looking at her emphatically. I mean, seriously. You'd think it wouldn't be that big of a deal, considering I've, you know, stolen cars and killed grown men. Whatever. Sue me.

"If you didn't want anyone to know you shouldn't have done it," was her only response as she went back to her PDA.

I rolled my eyes, having one of those pick-your-battles moments. "Did you stop by just to scold me for skipping class?"

"Well, of course, I came by to help you plan your next step in your mission." He relaxed into the chair across the room from me. I leaned against the wall, feigning indifference. This had starting happening more often, Jeb trying to reinstate his spot as a part of the flock and our decisions.

"School, saving the world, how will I balance it all?" I asked dramatically, hating that he was insisting we had this conversation now.

Iggy was finished making burgers, and there was a stacked plate of leftovers on the counter. The kids were sitting around the large table, eating their hearts out. Mom had put away her palm pilot and was paying attention to what Jeb was saying, looking concerned.

I grabbed a burger and took a bite, chewing slowly.

"You found some free time to spend with Fang," Jeb said without expression.

I had trouble swallowing and set the burger down. I glared accusingly at Mom when I had no retort for that one.

"I didn't say anything," she said, looking at Jeb.

"He called me," he confessed, "worried about some new development and said he'd drop by to talk to you about it."

Fang seemed to do all the wrong things these days. I mean, call Jeb before me? The traitor who's sold us out millions of times? Was he stupid? Was hanging out with my clone affecting his dumbass mind? I groaned internally.

"But," Nudge said, pouring more milk into her glass, "Max, you said Fang didn't have any new information."

"Well, even if he did, it must've been pretty big for him to trust _you _with it," Iggy added pointedly, glaring sightlessly in Jeb's general direction. The others looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to spill.

No, thank you.

"He didn't say anything to me," I said slowly. Jeb raised his eyebrows, looking around the room at the clueless flock. He turned back to me with a stern look.

"Max, you have got to quit keeping secrets," Jeb said seriously.

"It doesn't concern them!"

"But it would still be profitable for them to know about your connections in case something happens to you and they need a way to contact you. Have you ever thought about it like that? If you're kidnapped, they can use Fang's new power to-"

"Fang has a new power?"

Stupid Fang. Stupid Fang and his stupid new power. His stupid ways of showing up at the worst possible moments…

"Well _he's _the one who-"

"_Where were you Monday?" She asked him, throwing small twigs into the fire. The skinny boy who'd decided to stay was cooking something over the open flame, and yelled at her for the umpteenth time to knock it off. She rolled her eyes. _

"_I had a meeting," he said._

"_Ooh, big business, huh?" she joked, laughing. Max II could see the way her laugh bothered Fang. The way it reminded him. "With who, the president?"_

"_None of your business." Fang's mind was somewhere else as he said this. _

_Max II rolled her eyes again, leaning against the tree. _

"_At least tell me what the plan is," she said. "All we're doing is traveling in circles around this small Colorado town. Why aren't we moving from place to place?"_

"_We have connections here," Fang explained, holding his forehead. _

"_Dude, are you okay?" the boy asked. _

"_Everyone just shut up," Fang said irritably. _

_It got quiet. _

"_What did you just say? Did you just say my name?" Fang asked, looking right at Max II. His hand had curled around her wrist._

"_You told us to shut up," she said, amused. "Maybe you should get some sleep tonight. I've got watch."_

"Jeb, do you know what's going on with her?" Mom asked. Her hand was in mine and Nudge was right in my face, holding my cheeks.

"Is she having a stroke?" Nudge asked.

"I'm fine," I said, shaking her off.

"Tell us what's going on," Nudge insisted, tugging my wrist.

"That's the second one today-"

"I don't know what that's all about," Jeb said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if Max started to develop a new power."

"Do you have any idea what that new power could be?" I asked, already having a pretty good idea.

He shook his head. "But Fang's connects the two of you on a totally different level, so maybe yours will be like his."

It already was, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"What's Fang's-"

"I don't want to talk about that," I interrupted Dylan. "We can discuss that later."

"Max-" Jeb began to scold me again, but I beat him to it.

"Did you know he recruited Max II?" I blurted.

"What?" Jeb asked.

"Max…two?" Dylan asked.

"The School clone me and tried to replace me, wanting to trick the flock," I said, glaring at Jeb.

"Did Fang tell you this when you met with him Monday?"

I hesitated. "…Not exactly."

Jeb sighed, and the rest of the flock continued to look at me in exasperation. "If I have to call Fang and make him come here to explain it all to us-" Jeb was interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket, and he excused himself.

"Well, I'm beat," I said, standing up. Everyone stared at me in disbelief.

"You're just going to leave us in the dark?" Nudge asked, sounding wounded.

"We're a family," Angel said softly.

"We're worried about you," Dylan said.

"Guys, I've been flying all day, and I'm tired. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

I walked up to my room without another word, falling into bed the second I'd gotten into my pjs.

"_Max, we need to talk." _

_As usual. It seems all Fang wants her for these days was to talk. _Well, maybe I don't want to talk, _she thinks, spinning away from him._

"_Well we have to," Fang says, and then growls in frustration. "See? I just read your mind. I heard you thoughts! And it was happening earlier today, I swear it was you…"_

"_Or was it Max II?" she asks, her voice cracking. _

"_Max, no-" Fang says, remembering what she'd said on the phone to him earlier. "It's not like that."_

"_That's so unfair," she says. "I can't believe you. You leave me and then don't even go a week before calling in my clone! My clone, Fang! How can you even sleep at night, knowing that she's my clone?"_

_His thumb presses to her mouth, his palm lifting her face to his. He kisses her mouth, barely pushing his lips against hers, stopping her rant and erasing her fury for a moment. She closes her eyes, savoring the sweet moment. _

"_Sleeping," he says quietly, as if he doesn't really want to admit it out loud, "is the only time I see you."_

_She groans, disappointed in herself for falling for him like this, for such a cheesy, disgusting line, and then pulls his mouth back to hers. So much for figuring things out and talking about their issues. _

_She moves him backwards, pushing him down onto an armchair in the unrecognizable room they were in. Her hands are up in his hair while their mouths move together, completely in sync. _

_He feels her heart slamming in her chest, pounding against his. He pulls her closer. _

_Their problems are still there, her hurt is still there, but they don't stop and face it. They keep going, keep kissing, keep trying to forget. _

_Max genuinely _can not _care less. Right now, she does not want to _talk_. She's not ready to talk, she's not ready to hash it out and have it be over. She wants to avoid mushy-gushy talk as long as she possibly can. Not to mention she has gone way too long without this. _

We have accomplished nothing, _Max thinks. Though, she has to admit, making out with Fang is much easier than talking about their problems. Fang chuckles against her mouth. _

"_What?" she murmurs. _

_He shakes his head, kissing her jaw and then her chin before stopping for a moment on her collar bone, making her gasp. His fingers slowly run down her spine and she whispers his name, tugging his hair. _

"_This is a place all our own," he mumbles into her neck, planting a soft kiss there. "We can do whatever we want." _

_He lets that sink in for a moment before smashing his mouth to hers, eliciting a humiliating whimper from her. He grins and she bites his lip._

_His fingers slide up under them hem of her camisole. "Where'd you get these pajamas?"_

"_Who cares?" she mumbles, fisting his hair in her hands and kissing him again. _

"_They're soft," he responds, kissing her shoulder, his thumb sliding under the shoulder strap of her top. _

_His hot hand on her back starts losing its warmth gradually, and she leans forward, trying to feel his body heat again. _

"_Fang?" she murmurs, looking at him. _

"_I'm being woken up," he groans. She frowns, holding his wrists, as if that will keep him anchored there in their own little fantasy. He starts to get blurry. _

_He presses his mouth to hers, but he's barely there, and then he's not there at all. _

_What was she doing? Of all the dumb things she's done in her short, sad existence, she believes this is the dumbest. _

_But oh well. She wants him. Maybe here, she can have him. _

_Yeah right. And maybe she's out of her freakin' mind. _

_Max turns around in the seat, sitting properly, then slides down in the chair until she's slumped so low she's about to slip out of it completely. _

**A/N: This isn't where I wanted to cut this chapter off, but…whatever. I'm updating again right now because…I want to. **

**Heads up: There will be NO M-rated content in this story. Sorry. It's not my thing. And if I lose some of you because of my honesty, I'm sorry it has to be this way. **

'**Kay, review! I'm serious this time, peeps. Show me some love. Or hate. Hate is good, too. Hate makes the world go 'round.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_**Wow**_**, fangsallmine1123, OR you could update **_**every freaking day**_**. Jeez. **

**When I say I'll update every day, I put up a chapter every few months. But when I say I'll do it once a week, then, by all means, chapters **_**everyday for everyone**_**! **

**Haha. Don't get used to it…**

**But…You guys are **_**so **_**awesome! I never thought I'd be this eager to write and update a story, but I just want to keep putting chapters up every single day, because my feedback is so great. **

**So, big, big, BIG thanks to my very first reviewer, Animalover99. Thanks! And all of you other ones, I seriously appreciate it. **

**Alright, carry on. **

"So you're still here?" I asked the next morning, reaching into the cabinet for an Advil.

Jeb looked up from the table, setting down the newspaper. "Are you alright?"

"Headache," I said, leaning against the counter and taking the pill dry. It left a sour taste on my tongue that made me wish I'd washed it down. He watched me.

"No one else is up," Jeb said causally, folding the paper and sipping his coffee. "Want to talk?"

"Not really," I said, sitting across from him. "But I guess I could use some answers."

"Then maybe we can help each other out," Jeb said.

"So tell me something," I challenged, widening my eyes and hoping to appear plain curious. "If Dylan and I are meant to be, then why are Fang and I getting new powers that connect us?"

"Maybe if I knew what these powers were, I'd be able to answer that question more accurately."

I sighed, my headache increasing. If there was one thing Jeb enjoyed, it was making me work for my answers.

Our talk was over before it began as I saw Nudge slumping down the steps.

"Morning, kiddo," I said, pushing her curly hair out of her face as she sat down beside me. She yawned.

"Coffee?" Jeb offered, but I shook my head at him.

"Are you serious? Caffeine, for this girl?" Nudge smiled tiredly, leaning in her chair in what can only be defined as a technically upright position.

"So, are you going to tell us all what's going on with you and Fang?" Nudge asked.

"After breakfast," I said, just as Ella and Iggy made their way down the hall and into the living room, collapsing against each other on the couch.

"Morning sleepy heads," I said. "Breakfast?"

"I guess that's an order," Iggy mumbled, gently moving his shoulder from under Ella's head and standing up, stretching.

"That's well under way, so I'll get the others. Anyone seen Mom?"

"She's up," Jeb said. "Outside with the dogs."

I nodded, walking towards the stairs to go wake up the rest of the flock.

I reached for the knob to open Dylan's door but he beat me to it, smiling brightly down at me. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt and jeans that were hanging on his thin body, but he still managed to look like a Calvin Klein model. I was surprised all this talk of Fang wasn't discouraging him at all.

"Iggy could use help making breakfast," I said, stumbling over my words and pointing towards the stairs.

"Morning to you too, Max," he said with that voice of his, his arm brushing mine as he passed me.

I moved on to Angel's room, opening the door to see her brushing her hair.

"Hey, you're up," I said, smiling at her. She turned and smiled at me, too.

"Hey, you're in a good mood," she mimicked, putting down her brush.

"Yeah, well, I told you guys I needed sleep." And a nice, steamy make out session.

She looked at me curiously.

"Stay out of my head and get downstairs," I mumbled. On her way to her bedroom door she stopped and turned around, looking like she was concentrating.

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Someone's here."

I turned to her window and pulled aside the powder blue curtains.

"No car," I said, spotting my mom walking with Total and Akila trotting side by side and Magnolia on a leash. Just as I was about to leave Angel's room to wake up Gazzy, I saw Mom tilt her head up to the sky and watch for a moment. Then she started making her way to the house, fast.

"Get Gazzy," I said. "Might be a threat."

"It's okay, Max-" Angel tried, but I pushed her out the door and down the hall.

"Hurry, wake your brother up," I said, running down the stairs.

"Max, calm down! It's-"

"Max?" My mom peeked her head in the door, looking confused. "Fang's here. With…another you."

Angel and Gazzy appeared, Gazzy falling onto his stomach on the carpet and groaning, "It's too early for Sunday."

"Told you not to freak out, Max," Angel said.

"Fang's here?" Ella asked from the kitchen.

"Apparently," I said, pushing my hair away from my face in aggravation. I looked out into the yard and sure enough, Max II was landing in the yard. Why couldn't Fang have just left her somewhere I didn't have to see her? Was he asking for me to beat her up? Again?

I wanted to smack myself. I had let myself give in to him again instead of speaking my mind and figuring things out. Now I wasn't sure where we stood. And I also wasn't sure what Fang would be expecting from me now. Forgiveness? A relationship?

"They aren't alone," Nudge said, peering out the window. "Fang's carrying someone."

Bleck.

I didn't have time for this mushy love drama.

I opened the door and stood on the porch, watching Fang land awkwardly, holding up the slim, pale boy. Fang supported the boy as best he could and Max II looked up at us warily.

"Great. I'm guessing these are the connections you mentioned?" she muttered.

"What happened to him?" I asked impassively, jerking my thumb to the kid passed out on the ground next to Fang but not taking my eyes off him.

"I left early last night because Holden had been attacked on watch," he said. "Maya saved him just in time."

I almost face palmed.

Great.

"_Left early_?" Dylan asked, his fiery gazed locked on me.

"Were you two, like, hooking up?" Iggy asked.

"Who's Maya?" Nudge asked.

"I'm Maya," Max II said seriously. She glared at us. "Would you like to walk around being called someone's double your whole life? I deserve my own name."

"Maybe," I said harshly, "But I deserve my own DNA."

"Can you put your problems aside for a second?" Fang asked. "Holden needs help."

"If you wanted me to put my problems aside, you should've left _her _at home," I replied.

"Look, I know we have a lot to talk about," Fang began.

_Especially because we keep kissing instead of figuring out our new powers, _I thought to myself.

But I guess not to myself, because Fang said, "Especially because of that. But first we need to help Holden."

"What happened?" Nudge asked, helping my mom and Iggy lift the unconscious boy up.

"Erasers," Fang said. "The kind that attacked you guys a while back."

"How many? Why aren't you guys hurt?" Gazzy said.

"They tried to get him in his sleep," Maya said. "He had no warning and took the first few blows unaware. We were ready."

The kid had three broken ribs and a crushed nose. He'd lost blood from a gash on his leg that looked infected and disgusting, but it was healing rather quickly. Fang filled me in on Holden's power; he could heal himself. Except now he was unconscious, so it wasn't working as well. As he was propped up in the kitchen, being fed by Ella and my Mom, Fang and I sat in the dining room at the table. The rest of the flock was certainly trying their hardest to eavesdrop from the living room.

All I could seem to think was, _How did we end up like this?_ We used to be running for our lives, sleeping in parks and subway tunnels and caves. We used to be together, all six of us. There was never any confusion or awkwardness between Fang and I.

Now he was gone, we were living in a gigantic house in Colorado with _my mom_, and I wasn't sure if Fang was …you know…_with _my clone or not. Judging by my dreams, he wasn't, but, how was I supposed to know for sure?

"Way to mention last night, bozo," I mumbled. "Now they think I'm sneaking you in or something." Which is exactly what Dylan had thought. I could tell by the look on his face.

"Then, _here's an idea_," Fang said, giving me a look, "tell them the truth."

"You want to go in there and explain? Because I don't."

"Well we can't keep anymore secrets," Fang said seriously, running his hand through his hair. I though of my hand doing the same thing and blushed, looking away. He barely grinned, probably reading my mind.

"Stop doing that," I said angrily.

"Looking sexy?"

"Reading my mind," I growled. "I'm serious."

"Me too," he said, his grin gone. "We can't keep secrets from them."

"You sound like Jeb," I spat.

"Then maybe Jeb's onto something," he said, leaning back a bit. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring at me. "Maybe Jeb's right."

I stood up, refusing to agree with him. "Max," Fang said. "They're our family. Family doesn't lie to family."

"Family doesn't lie to family," I mocked. I pressed my hands to the table and hissed, "Family doesn't leave family, either."

I stood up and stalked into the living room. Everyone tried to pretend they hadn't been listening in like the little buggers they are.

"Max, would you just stop being stubborn for one second?" he said, following me from the living room. "We have to deal with this. We have to…figure it out."

"Okay," I said, my entire body buzzing with anger and energy. "Let's figure it out. Let's find out a way to _make it stop_."

"What?" He drew back, looking surprised.

"It's not a big deal," I said, noticing the others watching us like a tennis match.

"Of course it's a fucking big deal!" Fang said, livid.

"Don't curse at me," I hissed, pushing him. I didn't want to be close to him anymore. Any closeness we had was gone after he left and ran to _her_.

"We should just ignore it," I said, trying to stay calm. Everyone in the living room was watching us with big eyes.

"Okay," he agreed sarcastically. "Let's take turns _sleeping_. That'll work!"

I rolled my eyes, my face burning. Of course we _had _to have an audience. Because everything we did these days was a huge freaking production. "You're trying to keep it around because you _like _it."

"Of course I like it," he said, looking like he wanted to rip his hair out. "I don't understand why you want to get _rid _of it!"

"You left me!" I reminded him loudly, angrily, breathing heavy.

He didn't respond right away. There was a moment of silence throughout the room and I ran my hands down my face, taking a deep breath. My chest was heaving.

"You can't keep throwing that in my face just to win an argument," Fang said steadily.

"I can throw it in your face _whenever the hell I want_!" I yelled.

"Max, Fang, that is enough," Mom said with a quiet calm, walking out of the kitchen.

I turned away from Fang, walking across the room, trying to calm down. This was ridiculous.

Mom was right. Which wasn't new, but it seemed to be the first time in days that I realized that. I'd been so busy with myself after Fang left, so busy trying not to be so damn hurt all the time, that I hadn't noticed how much I'd changed. The flock could barely look up to someone like me, especially not as a leader. I needed to push mine and Fang's issue aside so I could lead the flock like old times. Especially during _these _times.

And no matter how hard it was going to be for me to push away all my anger and confusion and longing…I was going to do it. At least around the others.

I took a deep breath and turned to look at the others. "We are going to have to do two things if we're going to fix anything around here," I said slowly. "First, we need to put everything that has happened behind us. I'm totally never going to stop being mad about it, but I think I speak for all of us when I say life would be so much easier without the soap opera bull crap."

"Thank the Lord," Iggy said, raising his hands. "I thought you were gone for good, Max."

I smirked, grabbing his hand to touch my face so he knew it.

"And second," I continued. "No more secrets."

_We've got a lot of explaining to do._

I spun on Fang, my eyes wide with shock.

"What?" he asked.

"I heard that," I said, touching my temple.

_Great._

"Yeah, now you can't use my thoughts against me," I said.

"Would you like to explain to those of us who are completely lost?" Gazzy asked.

"Fang and I have new powers," I said. "That only work on each other."

We explained all that we could about our budding powers to the others.

"Why is this happening to you guys all of the sudden?" Nudge wondered aloud when we were finished.

"That's what I was thinking," I said. "Especially because Dylan is supposedly meant for me."

Dylan flinched when I said "supposedly". I ignored him.

"I'm not sure," Jeb said carefully. "Your powers could only be programmed in before the age of ten, when your bodies started changing. Messing around in your head after that would've affected your health. That's why we programmed most of the powers you all have now to kick in at a later date, like your Voice. Which is how I knew that Iggy and Nudge had mutated with their new powers a year or so ago instead of having been programmed later in life. Maybe this is a mutation, too. But that doesn't explain why your new powers would be selective. Usually, _that _would have to be programmed."

"So, for some reason, the two of you have just gotten new powers in the matter of one week," Mom said slowly. "And we don't know why, or how, but we know that it connects the two of you on a more complicated level."

"Right," I said. "But I don't see how it's important."

"I do," Fang said.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing," Fang said, sitting down. _It means he shouldn't be in the picture. _I caught the way Fang glanced at Dylan when he thought that and bit my lip.

It felt true. I looked at Dylan and all I could think was that he was getting in the way of something natural, something that was meant to happen.

I looked at Fang, and he was nodding, his eyes locked on mine.

"But…" I sighed. _Do powers actually do that? Do they appear as signs of soul mates, or something?_

I shook my head. I carefully blocked my mind. Fang seemed pretty confident, if not happy, that our powers were connecting us like this. It was too much to take in, the fact that Fang and I were meant to be. The fact that Dylan was programmed to love me. That Fang and I could never really be together, especially not now. Especially not when I had the flock to take care of. And trying to be around each other and not be together would hurt too much.

"We can't jump to any conclusions. We should try to figure things out from both ends."

Fang looked hurt by my words for a second, but then his expression became impassive and he nodded.

"I guess…we should get going, then," he said after a moment.

I tried to get something from him, anything from him.

But he was blocking me, too.

So this is what we've come to. Blocking each other, avoiding each other…and then at night…

I just _despised _my life right then.

I tried a smile, but it didn't happen. I just stared at Fang as he thanked my mom and Ella for taking care of Holden and said he'd be in touch soon.

Maya helped Holden limp out the door. The flock watched as Fang followed the two of them. He sent a small wave to all of us and then closed the door behind him.

My feet itched to run to him. I hesitated, then realized it was probably what he wanted, too.

I ran to the door and stepped outside, jumping off the porch.

"Fang?" I asked. He turned around to look at me.

I walked over to him.

"I…" My voice wavered. He looked at me, unsure, as if he was trying to figure me out.

"See you later, Max."

And when he and Maya and Holden were just spots on the sky, I let myself groan, pushing the heels of my palms into my eyes.

Off the record, that was _not _the goodbye I wanted. By any means.

I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: You guyyyyyys. You rock. **

**Yeah, so, it's Sunday and the reason I was able to update everyday was probably because it was the weekend, so now that I'm going to be super busy I may not be updating as frequently…**

**I know. **

**But still. I'm super excited to give you chapter four! Review!**

All I wanted to do was find my mom and talk to her, hear what she thought. See if she agreed with what I'd done, sending Fang away like that. A few hours later, I finally got the chance.

"Mom?" I pushed open the door to her bedroom. She was on her bed, watching an old sitcom on TV while she sorted through some papers.

"Hi, honey," she said, pushing aside the papers.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Paper work," she said.

I sat down on her bed slowly. "We haven't gotten to talk in a while," I said, looking at her.

"I know, and it's mostly my fault," she said guiltily, placing her hand on mine. "I've been so busy lately with work. And I have to admit, taking care of seven kids and three dogs is harder than it sounds."

"I don't mean to push us on you," I said. "This isn't permanent. We'll move on soon anyways."

"I wasn't complaining," she said, brushing through my hair as I leaned my head on her shoulder. I relaxed, closing my eyes, trying to let go of my tension. "I love having you all here."

"We love being here. But it won't last forever. It's too dangerous for you and Ella. I wish the kids could realize that."

"Well, at least finish the year at school," Mom offered. "Christmas is coming up soon."

I nodded. "We'll try. But if a threat pops up…I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you or Ella."

"Neither would Iggy," Mom said, smiling lightly. "He and Ella have gotten really close, haven't they?"

"Yeah, scary isn't it?"

"Scarier for them than it was for you and Fang. With you two, both of you were on the run, both were tortured, both were hunted, both were in danger constantly. Iggy will have to leave Ella behind."

_Iggy will have to leave Ella behind. _"They almost shouldn't…"

"Be together?" She smiled. "Easier said than done, isn't it?"

I sighed.

"Fang didn't expect you to tell him to leave today," she said. "You could see it in his eyes. The way his face fell when you dismissed him."

I looked up at her, surprised she had noticed those details. Usually only I could read him.

"You can read him pretty well," I commented. Mom smiled.

"It's not hard to read him when he's around you," Mom said softly. "He lets his guard down around you."

I fiddled with my hands, sitting quietly for a second. "The flock wasn't totally wrong when they complained about Fang and I together," I said slowly. "We put them in danger."

"So you're just going to be with him in your dreams? Don't let the flock make decisions for you. It's your love life, right?"

"Yes, but it affects them," I said softly.

"When you save the world, it's going to affect a lot of people. They may not all see it as a good thing at the time. Some of them might even be against it. But does that mean you just shouldn't try?"

Doesn't it? Doesn't it mean that Fang and I shouldn't try to be together if it puts our family in danger? Or does it mean we should just do it anyways?

"It's too much," I said. It was overwhelming, trying to sort this out. Fang and I needed to sort it out _together_. If we could even _be_ around each other without making out or biting each others' heads off. "I need to think about something else."

"Alright, well don't give up, okay? Fang might've messed up in the past, but he really does care about you."

I was about to respond when I heard my name called. "Max! Can you help me with my math homework?"

I sighed, standing up. "That's my cue," I said, although I wasn't sure I'd be much help to Gazzy's educational problems.

"Love you," Mom said.

"You too," I replied, slipping out of her room and down the hall.

"Gazzy?" I called. He wasn't in his room so I moved downstairs.

He sat on the floor in the living room, balancing his pencil on his nose.

"Gaz?"

"Hey, Max! Do you know how to multiply decimals? Because I'm, like, lost, and I don't know-"

_It was a recognizable forest. One Max had explored with the flock when they first moved there. Not even thirty minutes away. That's where Fang, Maya and Holden were being attacked._

"_Where's your little princess?" the Eraser hissed in his ear, his breath making Fang exhale in disgust. _

"_Found her!" the other one chuckled, pulling Maya forward. He held a jagged, rusty knife to her throat. _

"_Don't touch her," Fang said harshly, and the Eraser who had him in a headlock pulled him tighter. If something happened to Maya because they thought she was Max…_

"_Shut up," the Eraser growled. "Tell us where the others are. Where the real Maximum Ride is. Because this ain't her." He yanked on the bright pink chunk of hair and sneered. _

_The one with the knife pierced Maya's skin, letting a droplet of blood trickle down her neck. She struggled and he pressed harder, pulling her hair back roughly. "Stop moving or I slit your throat!" _

"_Where is she?" Fang's captor yelled. "Or we kill this one."_

"_Don't tell them," Maya demanded in a gasp, her eyes dead serious, but her captor cut a long line, barely drawing blood but enough to make her bleed. _

_Fang kept his mouth shut._

"_Get that knife away from her throat!" Holden yelled, trying to get to his feet. He was still pretty hurt from earlier that morning, and the Erasers had gotten him pretty bad again. He just wasn't a fighter. But he was healing right there, before their eyes. His yellow bruises slowly blending into his skin, his gashes sealing quickly._

"_Fine," the Eraser said, obviously fed up. _

"_Don't!" Fang barked, but the Eraser did it anyways. _

_He plunged the knife into Maya's stomach. _

"-not like I _tried _to send her into a fit," Gazzy was saying to Iggy, who had a hand on my wrist. "I just wanted help with my homework."

"I was not in a fit," I said, heading towards the door.

"Wha - Where are you going _now_?" Gazzy asked incredulously.

"Fang's in trouble," I mumbled, pulling on my jacket.

"We're coming," Iggy said, standing up.

There wasn't time to argue. Maya could already be dead.

"Well, come on then."

I didn't let them waste time before shoving them out the door. Iggy put his shoes on in the air.

If they killed Maya like that, who's to say Fang isn't dead right now, too?

My heart slammed violently in my chest, making it hard to think. I knew we were at the right spot after a minute or two, and I told Iggy and Gazzy to wait in the air for my signal. I lowered myself to the woods slowly then slinked through the forest, careful of underbrush. I avoided small sticks and twigs skillfully, peeking through the trees, wondering if I'd need to pull the three of them out of there and let Iggy and Gazzy bomb the Erasers.

But what I saw when I peeked through the trees amazed me. Fang was holding a sweatshirt pressed to Maya's wound while Holden stood, gasping, surrounded by the three fallen Erasers. Super human Erasers that, by word of Fang and the flock, are way harder to beat.

Holden had done it all.

"Oh, my God," I breathed, stepping out of the trees.

"Max," Fang breathed in relief. "We've got to get her out of here. She'll bleed to death."

"Oh, what? _What_?" Holden looked ready to explode with excitement. He looked down at his hands. "Did I just _do _that? For _real_? Am I dreaming?"

"Holden," Fang barked. Holden turned and saw the blood blossoming on the pink sweatshirt that was being held against Maya's stomach and sobered up.

"Oh, my God," he said. "Should I call 911?"

"No," I said immediately. Fang looked at me.

_She's going to die. We need outside help._

"I know," I said, answering his thoughts and scooping her up. She was as light as Nudge. "But I can get her _there _faster than an ambulance can get _here_. Meet me at the hospital."

I took a running start and jumped, pushing my wings hard, flying at full speed past Gazzy and Iggy.

• • •

The nearest hospital had been about thirty or forty minutes away, but it had taken me about five. They'd collected Maya's information - for now, she was my 'twin' - took two pints of my blood and took her into surgery.

I sat in the waiting room, staring at the juice and cookie they'd given me, the words replaying in my head again and again.

_Don't tell them. _

I hated her. I _hated _her, but I'd saved her. Why? For Fang? For me? Just because I should have? Just because I wanted to?

No. I saved her because she saved _us_.

She could have died, she _still _could die, and she didn't want Fang to give away our position.

She saved me, she saved the flock. My mom and Ella. All of us.

As much as I hated her, and hated to admit that I owed my life to her, I _did_.

I groaned, letting my head fall to the table.

Fang, Iggy, Holden and Gazzy rushed into the waiting room and saw me, sitting alone in the corner at a small table with my tray.

"Max! How is she?" Holden asked.

"She's in surgery," I muttered against the wood tabletop. "No one would tell me anything."

"She lost a lot of blood," Fang said. "They know they can't give her normal blood, right?"

"I gave her two pints."

Iggy raised an eyebrow, stealing my cookie from my tray. I pulled my head up and looked at them all. Fang and Holden looked alright, and Gazzy and Iggy were watching me.

"She…saved our lives," I muttered, sticking my juice box with my straw and sucking it dry. The dizziness was starting to get me. Maybe from the blood I'd given. But I figured it was really from all the thoughts whirling in my head.

"How?" Iggy asked, feeling for a chair and sitting down at the table with me. Fang and Holden also sat down while Gazzy went to call Angel.

"She wouldn't give away our position even though they threatened her," I said, sinking down in my chair and closing my eyes. "I have to be nice to her now."

I groaned again, and Iggy patted me on the back, grinning.

We were the only ones in the waiting room, and within an hour the rest of the flock had arrived and the doctors had told us Maya was stable and would make it.

"Well, let's go see her, then," Fang said, standing up.

I stood up, too. "Give me a second."

He nodded and opened the door to her room for me. She looked at me.

"Not who I expected to see," she mumbled, smirking.

"I think it's only right for your twin to visit first."

She laughed, then winced.

"Sorry," I mumbled, surprising myself.

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you get stabbed in a vision," I said, watching her expression.

She nodded, then let her head fall back onto the pillow tiredly. "So you came to the rescue," she replied. "How noble of you."

"I want to…uh…thanks," I said reluctantly. "You saved my butt today."

"I know I look just like you, but let's not get mixed up here. You saved _my _life."

I shook my head. "You could've told them where we were, they'd have let you go. You wouldn't be in this hospital bed."

"No," she said, closing her eyes. "You would be. Your mom would be. Your sister. Any one of you."

I looked down at my hands, not knowing what to say. Because she was right.

"I'm not a monster, Max," Maya said.

"I know your not, Maya."

I didn't stumble over her name this time. Because…because she really wasn't me at all.

Let's face it: If I had been in her position, I wouldn't have been thinking of someone else's family who could be in danger. I'd be thinking of _my _family, and how I couldn't die, couldn't leave them. There is nothing I _wouldn't have done _to get myself and my family away from that knife. Especially not what she did.

_There's nothing wrong with trying to protect your family, Max. _

I knew it was Fang's voice.

I refused to answer.

• • •

"_I don't want to be here!" she yells, falling onto her back on the velvety cushions. _

_The room is blue. Dark blue walls, a blue antique sofa, a blue carpet. There is a fire lit in the fire place. _

_She is tired of talking to him, of _not _talking to him, of being hurt and being led on and being alone once he leaves. She doesn't want to see Fang. She doesn't want to share a dream tonight. _

"_I know you don't," Fang says from behind her. She sits up and looks over the back of the couch to see him leaning against the wall. "But you left the hospital today with some scary thoughts in your mind."_

"_The only thing scary about the thoughts in my mind was that they were true," she points out, standing up. She looks down at her long t-shirt and realizes that in all her distracted thinking when getting ready for bed, she'd forgotten that she and Fang share dreams in what they fall asleep in. And all she was sleeping in was an old t-shirt - one of his, no less. She blushes, tugging self-consciously at the hem. _

"_Is that my shirt?" Fang grins. _

"_We were having a successful conversation," she groans, sounding disappointed. A small part of her is kind of happy that he's happy about her wardrobe choice. _

"_It's hard to focus," he murmurs, "in your current condition. You look good in my clothes." _

_She pulls a silky midnight blue blanket around herself and glares up at him. "Better?" _

"_Obviously not," he says. "You're making this a very dull dream for the teenage boy mind." _

_She leans against the wall, staring straight ahead of her as she says, "I'm sorry about what happened today."_

"_Our fight," Fang says._

"_Not that," Max says. "After…that." _

"_Oh." He seems to not know what to say._

"_I figured if I asked you to stay…" _You'd just break my heart again_, she finishes in her mind._

_He sighs, and she realizes that he's reading her mind again. _

"_I didn't mean…" she trails off. He looks over at her. Neither of them know what to say. They weren't used to having this kind of awkward, longing relationship. They were used to being so connected, so together, so in sync…_

"_I don't think this is going to be…easy for us," Fang whispers. "I just want us to try."_

"_I don't know how you expect me to forget that this happened," she replies, looking across the room again to avoid eye contact. "But I want us to try, too."_

_He wants to try. That's what she wants too, more than anything. She wants everything to be okay again, she wants her relationship with Fang to be the one and only things she's 100% sure of. Will that ever be the case again? Will she ever fully trust him, ever fully forgive him?_

"_I love you," he whispers, and she can barely stand up straight. She's weak in the knees._

_God, she hopes he didn't hear that. _

_She's never heard him say it before. He's written in a note, but that's obviously different. Hearing him say it, letting the words fill her up with delight, made it all seem more real. _

I've never heard her say it either, though_, Fang thinks. _

"_I told you," Max defended. "When you were in Dr. Hans' lab."_

"_So, when I was dead?" he clarifies. _

_She blushes. "I was scared to say it before."_

"_And now…?"_

_Max tries to sort out her thoughts. _What is stronger? _she wonders. _My feelings or my pride?

_She loves him, she _knows _she does. _

_But she _hates _the fact that she loves him sometimes. _

_He can do anything to her, he can break her heart a thousand times, and she will still love him, somehow. That…that dependence she has for him, it scares the hell out of her. _

_Her pride, her nasty side, wants her to tell him she doesn't love him, even though she does - _to no end_, in fact - because that little piece of her that is still angry and hurt wants him to be hurt, too. She wants him to hurt so badly, she wants him to be insane with grief, like she was. _

_But at the same time, she never wants him to feel like that. Ever._

_So what is stronger? Max doesn't know, at the moment. She is compelled to say she doesn't love him. She wants to see that look on his face, that fear and desperation and helplessness and _anguish_. _

_But she wants this to end. She wants them to be Max and Fang, unstoppable. She wants to push the past behind them. _

If she says she doesn't love me anymore, I might just-

"_I love you, too," she blurts less romantically than she'd planned. She stumbles over the syllables as if it's something she's never said before, and her hands are sweating and her breath is coming in short, ragged pants. But it doesn't matter to him either way; she's barely done with the words before his mouth pushes against hers, his hands tugging her waist closer. She closes her eyes and tries not to hyperventilate. What did this mean for them? Would Fang come back? Would they get together again? How would the flock feel? Would everyone be in danger again? How could Max ever deal with herself if something bad happened to them? What if Fang left again-_

_Her thoughts are interrupted by Fang picking her up. Her ankles lock behind his back instantly. Her elbows rest on his shoulders, her mouth smashed to his. They tilt their heads to kiss better, to get closer, their noses side by side while Fang's tongue glides over her bottom lip. _

"_Hmmm," she hums, letting her lips fall apart, and he sets her on the couch._

"_We need to stop," she breaths while his mouth goes across her jaw, "using this place to make out."_

"_Why?" he says huskily. _

"_It's distracting," Max insists, pulling his mouth back to hers. Their next kiss is slow, her lips moving in sync with his. She pulls away again, leaning back on the arm of the chair while he sits back on his knees. _

"_This is the one place we can afford to be distracted," Fang reasons, his fingers tracing from her knee to her ankle while his eyes trace her figure. _

"_Not that distracted," Max mumbles, righting her position beneath him awkwardly._

"_Your clothing choice, not mine," he says. _

"_So, you think we should use this place as a way to be together?" Fang thinks aloud. _

_How would that work? In real life pretend that they were acquaintances and in their dreams go crazy? Max isn't sure, and she doesn't respond. That would just make it more awkward when they were awake. _

"_Why not?" he says softly. _

"_We have to be…smart," she whispers. "Because whatever happens in our dreams is really happening."_

"_You mean if I tickle you, you'll really laugh? Like, in your sleep?"_

"_Don't even think about it," she threatened. _

Too late_, he thinks, and his hand pinches the back of her knee._

"Ew, dude, she's smiling," a quiet voice was heard from my left.

"She was giggling a second ago," another, deeper voice replied. "That's sick. They're probably fooling around or something."

I shifted onto my side and whapped Iggy in the head, surprised I could reach that far up from my bed.

"Shut up," I groaned. "That was a good dream."

I didn't correct them on their assumption just for my own amusement, and the Gasman gagged. I shoved them out of my room and tugged on some shorts. Going downstairs, I saw only the two of them on the couch, watching TV.

I sat down, looking around the room.

"Everyone else is asleep," Gazzy answered my alerted gaze. "Long day."

"Did I miss dinner?"

"Pretty much," Iggy sighed, making more room for me. Gazzy sat on my other side, grabbing the remote. "There's leftovers in the fridge. Chicken Alfredo."

I nodded. I leaned back, kicking my feet up on the coffee table and hugging a throw pillow to my chest. "Hey, guys? Do I talk in my sleep?"

"You don't talk," Gazzy mumbled. "But your lips move. It's weird."

"Move in a talking way, or a making out way?" Iggy joked.

"What's the difference?" Gazzy sighed, setting down the remote. "There's nothing on TV. I'm going to sleep."

"Okay," I said, kissing his forehead. He groaned and wiped it away. I smiled at him. "Pack your stuff, okay? We're leaving after dinner tomorrow."

"Man," he mumbled. "I wish we could stay for Christmas."

"We'll come back for Christmas," I told him. "I promise. But it's too dangerous for my mom and Ella if we're here."

"Okay. Night Max, night Iggy."

"Night."

"Hey, did you ever do your math homework? That's due tomorrow!" I called.

"Don't worry about it," he replied.

I rolled my eyes, leaning back onto the arm of the couch and kicking my feet into Iggy's lap and sprawling out on the couch, getting comfortable.

"So…you and Fang really do…that?" Iggy asked suddenly. I sat up quickly.

"We haven't done _that_," I said.

"Do you plan on it?"

I gaped at him, my face turning red. Thank God he couldn't see. "_What_?" Why were we talking about this? Me and Iggy? These are not the kind of conversations him and I were supposed to have. We talked about food and music. I yell at him for blowing my stuff up and he makes fun of me when I hurt myself. Not _this_. "Why?"

"This is weird," Iggy said, shifting in his spot on the couch. "I didn't think it would be this weird to talk to you about this stuff."

"Why _not_?" I asked, figuring it would have been pretty obvious.

"Well, I mean, you're practically a guy."

"I am not _practically _a guy. I think there are some very obvious differences."

"Chill out," Iggy mumbled. "I just…didn't think it'd be so awkward."

"I'm your sister," I said. "Of course it's awkward."

Then I realized that Iggy probably had a motive to bring up the topic.

"Don't you dare pressure my little sister into something like that," I said threateningly. "She's thirteen. Your both totally not ready."

"Shut up, Max," Iggy said finally, still squirming. "Please. Shut up."

I sighed, looking at the TV, trying to think of how to continue. I bit my lip. "This isn't something you _need _to do at fifteen. You know that, right?"

Iggy groaned, his head in his hands. "Kill me."

I pushed on, trying to get the words out right. "There are people who wait until marriage to make that decision. People who don't ever-"

"Okay, I'm not becoming a _monk_, so," Iggy said, turning to look at me with his blind eyes. "Sorry I brought it up. Let's not talk. About anything."

"It's not just guys that think about it, you know," I said. Iggy raised an eyebrow and I laughed at myself closing my eyes. "I didn't mean to sound like a pervert."

"See how easy it is?" Iggy smirked.

I took a deep breath, feeling as if I needed to finish this conversation. "Fang and I won't be doing…that…anytime soon. Just because our bodies are mature doesn't mean our minds are. I've already raised five kids, and if you haven't noticed, I don't do a very good job."

"You did fine," Iggy said slowly. "You kept us alive, right?"

"For us that was good enough," I said gently. "But that's because we're not normal. For normal people, it's not about dead or alive. There's more to life than surviving."

"Well, that's why our lives were so rough. Not because you couldn't give us a good life, but because we didn't need anything more than to survive another day. We didn't need normal parenting because we weren't living a normal life."

I looked at him, knowing he could sense it. Time for reality. "Ella deserves a normal life," I whispered.

"I know," he breathed, dragging his hand across his eyes in exhaustion. "But I don't want to stop being with her."

"I know," I repeated. Mom's words ran through my head. _Iggy will have to leave Ella behind. _"When we leave tomorrow, it's only going to be for a week. We're coming back for Christmas. Then we'll be off again. And if you really feel the way you think, it'll hurt like hell to be gone that long. But I can't promise that we'll always come back to visit every week."

"I don't want to hurt her," he said. "But I think it's going to hurt me just as much."

"You guys can call, video chat on laptops. Frequent visits, or at least as frequent as we can get," I tried, wanting to sound optimistic. "But it's not going to be easy."

"It wasn't easy for you and Fang, either."

"No, it wasn't. But look at us now," I mumbled.

"Now you two are sharing steamy dreams each night. I don't see the problem."

I sighed, leaning back on his shoulder. "Then you're blind."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Chapter five!**

My day had already _not _been fantastic, so detention with Mr. Malloy was not how I wanted to spend my last evening with my mom and sister.

I hadn't talked to Fang since Maya's incident, which was almost four days ago. I had decided it was time for us to move on, since the Erasers were obviously on our trail. I was sick of worrying about mom being attacked at work, or Ella being taken in the middle of the night. My paranoia has been on an all-time-high these past few days.

So I'd told Dylan that while they were waiting for me after school, they could go to the park or something. Then, after dinner, we'd take off. The kids weren't happy about it, but I _had _to lay down the law before someone got hurt. If me being the bad guy meant saving my family's butts, then by all means, I will _be _the best dang bad guy you've ever seen.

Anyways. My day sucked.

I had blacked out in the middle of History class and had a vision of Fang doing _nothing productive. _I sat in class with a glazed look for about five minutes before I snapped out of it and Iggy made some excuse for me, asking if he could take me to the office.

"Did you see anything important?" Iggy asked, walking with me down the hall.

"As if," I muttered. "He was just signing Maya out of the hospital, then the three of them ate lunch at some restaurant. As if it's not bad enough that I already feel like a stalker, I'm afraid I'm going to one day catch him doing private stuff or something. If you get what I mean," I added at the end, but I knew he did. I mean, if I catch him in the shower I can't exactly close my eyes. It's a _vision_.

Which made me uncomfortable. What if he saw _me _in the shower? Not cool.

"Well it's not like you can control it," he said. "Has Fang had any visions yet?"

"If he has, he hasn't told me. But now we know it's not just visions of things we need to know, it's just random insights. Which sucks," I said.

"I agree," Iggy had said. "Listen, it's the last hour. Go in to the nurse, fake a headache or something, and skip out until detention. See you later."

So here I was. Sitting in Mr. Malloy's English classroom, staring at the ceiling, lounging back in my chair. I huffed, looking at the clock.

"Max," Mr. Malloy said. He was reclined leisurely in his rolling chair, his tie untied around his neck as he played Angry Birds on his iPad.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You're supposed to have twenty minutes left," he said slowly, nodding towards the clock. He cursed under his breath as he lost the level. "But you can go if you want."

I sat up, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, go ahead," he said, looking up for a second to smile. "See you tomorrow in class? No skipping?"

I bit my lip, pulling my windbreaker on and zipping my backpack.

"Sure thing, Mr. Malloy. See you tomorrow."

I booked out of there. Mr. Malloy had been, by far, my favorite teacher. Totally chill. But that didn't mean I didn't want to get the hell out of that school.

I walked down the sidewalk to the park, knowing the flock isn't expecting me for another half hour or so. I didn't see them near the playground equipment, and figured they'd gone down one of the trails. I started down the closest one, zipping my jacket up all the way.

I reached down and grabbed my phone from my pocket and held it up, looking for reception. I figured it'd be easier to find them if I just called. I continued down the path, realizing I wasn't going to get anything. I'd never been on these trails, and I had no idea where this led or let out, but I heard voices shouting and wondered if it was the flock.

After a few minutes the trail opened up to a small clearing surrounded by thick woods. There were a few picnic tables and a small bathroom.

But what really struck me was the four big guys wearing matching jackets, surrounding a smaller boy in a blue sweatshirt. The one being ganged up on look about sixteen or seventeen, and the other guys were probably nineteen or twenty.

Who chooses a friendly, neighborhood park to gang up on someone?

Then again,_ Meet me in a dark alley, just to talk _doesn't sound as welcoming as _Let's go to that park across from that school in that really busy neighborhood. _

One of the guys, the leader, looked up at me and yanked the young guy around, pointing. "You called in a girl for back up?"

"I don't know her!" the boy cried, examining me in fear. "I swear!"

"So she just happened to stumble across our little meeting?" he sneered, looking at one of his buddies. Um, yeah, asshole. You're in a public park.

"Grab her."

Right. Like I was going to make it easy for them.

Two of the four men rushed towards me, but I spun and kicked, hard, landing a nice shot at the first guy's stomach then hit my elbow on his head, and he fell.

The other guy rushed at me and I punched his nose, hard, then kicked him in the groin, which sent him down. I hadn't fought like this for weeks. It felt good. Better than good. It felt normal. The other two men stared at me.

"I've got Jerry, here," said the leader who'd ordered the attack on me. "Go on."

The third one came at me and I rolled my eyes, readying myself.

But I wasn't ready for what happened next.

With two sickening pops, I was done. I hadn't registered anything but the sudden pain. I gasped, clamping my mouth shut so I wouldn't scream, and as if in slow motion, I fell back on my butt. I stared down at my thigh where blood was blossoming through my jeans, puddling on the dirt path beneath me. I was bleeding _a lot_. Not to mention my leg was _killing _me.

The men ran, dropping their captive and running back through the woods.

The boy, Jerry, ran over to me. "Oh, God," he said, looking down at me. "Do you have any one I should call?"

I looked at him in disbelief then choked out, "The _police_?" I panted, clutching my leg, trying not to jar it.

_There are two bullets in my leg! _My mind screamed, and I tried to shut it up.

I slowed my breathing, trying to calm down. I was losing a lot of blood. Every time I squeezed harder, more blood oozed out. But I was supposed to press on it, right? To stop the bleeding? It hurt so bad, worse than I had felt before. My leg was on _fire_. There was no way to quench the pain.

Oh, God, I just couldn't think right then.

"Right," he said, fumbling with his phone. "The police, right."

He held it up, not moving from his position leaning over me, trying to get reception.

"No bars, no bars, _damn _it -"

Another familiar sickening pop. The boy stopped moving. He stared down at me, shocked.

Then blood was in his mouth and he groaned, falling on me, knocking the breath out of me. I stared down, frozen in shock and fear, seeing the gaping hole the bullet had left in his lower back.

The pressure of his chest laying against the bullet holes in my leg made me cry out in pain, trying to push him off.

Was he dead? Was he dead?

_There is a dead boy on my lap! _My mind screamed again.

I closed my eyes, trying not to scream, trying not to pass out.

Tears leaked out of my eyes as the agony in my leg got worse. No one knew where I was. They thought I was in detention. They wouldn't be worrying about me for the next ten, twenty minutes. I could die from blood loss by then. The holes in my leg were so big I got sick looking at it. My jeans were soaked with my blood.

Just as I was getting dizzy from the blood loss and was about to lose hope, I felt the weight of the boy lifted off me. The person cursed, ordering for someone to check his pulse, and lifted me into their arms. I gasped, grabbing my leg with both hands, and tried not to sob.

I couldn't see straight through my tears, and I was getting dizzier and dizzier by the second.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I couldn't stay conscious anymore, but I fought the darkness that was pulling me under harder than I've ever fought for anything in my life.

I lost.

• • •

I'd never been shot any where other than my wing, which was always a clean clip or small hole, breaking a small bone or two in my wing and healing within a day or two.

This was two shots in my thigh, about two inches apart. Thank God neither of the shots grazed my bone, but muscle takes longer to heal.

The flock was in my room when I woke up, and so were Fang, Maya and Holden.

I wasn't sure what was going on at first, but there was a lot of relieved, excited talking and arms wrapping around me. After about ten minutes while I answered questions by nodding or shaking my head, Mom kissed my forehead for the third time and said, "I'm going to go order you some food, okay?"

I sucked in a breath, trying to sit up better. "Take them," I croaked, pointing at the others. I cleared my throat. "They need food."

"I'm not hungry," Maya said. "I'll stay."

I could name at least eight people in the room who weren't happy with that, but they left anyways, sensing that Maya had something to say to me.

"Looks like I'm the copycat, now," I mumbled once they'd gone, staring at my leg bitterly. "First you in the hospital, now me."

She sat down where my mom had been and looked at me. "So I've already half-way repaid you," she began.

"What?" I asked, flopping my head to the side to look at her.

"I gave you a pint of blood," she said.

"I only needed one pint?" I asked doubtfully. Maybe my mind had overplayed my injuries.

"You needed three," she said. "Fang gave the rest."

I leaned back on the bed, mulling this over. It wasn't that surprising of Fang. But why Maya at all?

"The rest of the flock hadn't arrived yet, and Holden couldn't give any because he doesn't have avian DNA. Fang was going to give it all but they said it was bad for his health. Fang was the one who found you. He had a vision."

So Fang was having visions. I wondered if this had been his first one, or just the first one he reacted to.

"He just took off, didn't tell us where he was going," Maya continued. "We just decided to follow."

I nodded. "I guess Jeb and Fang were right," I said finally. "These powers have already saved everyone's lives."

"Say that again," Fang said, kicking the door open with his foot balancing three trays of food effortlessly. "I don't think everyone else heard you. Who was right?"

I ignored that, taking my tray from him eagerly. "Thanks," I breathed, taking all the covers off. "And thanks," I added awkwardly. "For finding me today."

Fang stared at me. _Because I'd obviously rather let you die, _he thought pointedly, and I rolled my eyes.

I started shoveling food into my mouth, clearly not a nice view for any one in the room. Between mouthfuls, I updated myself.

"What time is it?"

"About nine," Mom said, checking her watch. I guess my surgery had taken awhile.

"Does everyone have their stuff? We'll leave from here tomorrow morning," I said.

The others nodded, claiming they did have their stuff, but Fang and Mom stopped eating and looked at me.

"What?" Fang asked.

"We can't stick around here," I said, as if it were obvious.

"Well, you kind of have to," Mom said, mocking my tone. I frowned. "You can't leave this bed for at least eight or nine more hours. And after that you still can't fly for the rest of the week."

"But, we heal fast," I said.

"If you were normal," Mom said, "you'd be in this bed for a week or two. And flying wouldn't be an issue. But it is."

"My leg doesn't affect my flying," I mumbled.

"No but it affects your taking off and landing. Putting weight on your injury can hurt it. For the next week, we're your slaves."

Iggy groaned. He was holding hands with Ella while ate. "I don't want to be Max's slave. She'll make us give her foot rubs or something."

"Fang can do the sponge bathing," Gazzy butted in optimistically.

"That _won't _be necessary," I said quickly, glaring at the Gasman while everyone laughed. Fang just shook his head, a smirk almost taking form.

"Go to bed," I said finally. "If you guys are too loud they'll kick you out."

"I'm going to take Ella home," Mom whispered, kissing my cheek. I nodded, hugging Ella. "Night, guys."

I wasn't sure if hospitals really could kick people out, but I'm sure someone could do it if they were annoyed too much.

"Seriously," I said, a bit louder, and they quieted down. Mom and Ella had walked out with Fang, Maya and Holden. Everyone still had school tomorrow, since mom thought it was stupid to stay in town but skip out on school. Though I'm sure we'd done stupider things before, but whatever. I wasn't going to push it.

One by one, the flock members fell asleep. Dylan was still up, sitting in the chair next to my bed. He looked around, then grabbed my hand and looked at me.

"I'm sorry," Dylan murmured.

"Don't be," I said, exhausted. "You didn't do anything."

"I was two minutes away from you," he said, his voice full of guilt and self-loathing. "I hate that he found you today. I should've been there."

He stared at me, and I stared back, unsure what to say.

"Go to sleep, Dylan," I mumbled. Dylan looked at me. He nodded, leaning back in the chair, dropping my hand. I knew he was out after a few minutes.

It was quiet, peaceful. The first time we'd all slept in the same room in weeks. I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of their breathing.

"I can't thank you enough for having found her today," I heard my mom say, and opened my eyes. Through the crack in the door, I could see Fang and my mom talking.

"I-" he began, but she cut him off.

"I used to be so reassured that nothing would happen to her because you were there," she said. "Even now, when you're not really there, you're still protecting her."

"What did you expect?" Fang said finally.

"Nothing less," Mom said. "But I still have to be grateful. You and I both know she's not very easy to love." Thanks, Mom. "She gets into so much trouble, it would be easier to not feel so much for her. For me she's my daughter, and I'll always have that fear. But you had a choice, and you chose Max. So, thank you."

Fang was quiet. Mom looked at him, waiting. Giving him time to say something, anything.

_There was never any choice_, Fang thought.

"Don't give up on her, okay?"

He nodded.

Mom said she had to get home with Ella, who was already waiting in the lobby. Fang nodded again.

"Hang on, guys," he said to Maya and Holden. Then he opened the door to my room. My eyes were closed, but I felt him move closer.

He stepped over Iggy and Gazzy on the ground and grabbed his jacket from the end of my hospital bed.

He leaned over me. I felt his breath on my face.

"Fang?" I opened one eye to see his chin. "What are you doing?"

He sighed. "Can't I just kiss you on the forehead without you ruining it?"

"Are you leaving?"

"I-" he sighed again. "We got a motel room down the street."

"Stay," I whispered.

He pointed to Dylan, asleep in the chair. Iggy and Gazzy were sprawled out on the floor, and Nudge and Angel were sharing the other bed.

Fang kissed my forehead. "Go to sleep."

I frowned, but rolled onto my side anyways, keeping my hurt leg on top.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Happy Valentines Day! **

**I TOLD you my updates were gonna be a little scarce this week...but guess what? I have a fourday weekend! Hooray!**

**So, like I said…Plot is moving along **_**very **_**quickly! This chapter is when it reaaally starts picking up. **

**Just a recap: So far, Max and Fang see visions of what the other is doing at that moment, hear each others thoughts occasionally, and of course, share dreams. Ooh, la, la!**

**Carry on! And review!**

It was on the news the next day that the goons who'd messed me up had been caught. A little late, if you ask me. The other boy, Jerry or whatever (Jeremy? Johnny? I don't know, all I know is he was kind of squirrely if you ask me), was recovering alright, too. He was still in the hospital whereas I kicked and screamed and complained and even threatened to get violent until finally, they signed me out. But I was still condemned to bedrest. Or, couch rest. I mean, hello. If I have to lay around, I want to be in front of a TV.

Remember how they'd all joked about having to be my slaves and having to assist me in the simplest, most embarrassing everyday tasks? And how I turned down the idea of needing any help whatsoever?

I never realized how much pain I'd be in the day after I was shot twice in the leg. You'd think I'd have expected it, but I had thought I'd heal up pretty good over night. Yeah, _no_.

The problem was, I wasn't used to having to watch putting weight on my legs. And now that one of them was seriously injured, I was not adapting well.

I could barely do anything!

The flock went to school but I stayed home. Mom had wanted me on crutches, limping around the house, but I refused to even humor her by picking them up, and instead laid on the couch all day. We had seen Fang and his gang in the morning at the hospital, but he had told me they were heading out, not explaining too deeply. Keeping up with his man-of-little-words rep he had goin' for him. He'd promised to keep in touch.

Mom skipped out on work, saying it was a family emergency, and stayed home all day to wait on me. She had the night shift at the clinic, though, and I knew she was putting more stress on herself by staying home to pamper me. I'd already promised myself that I'd make her go to work tomorrow even though she said I shouldn't be walking around on my leg at school for another few days, at the least.

When the kids got home and Mom left for work, I was still on the couch, humoring myself by catching fruit snacks shaped like Monster Inc. characters in my mouth.

"Hey, Max," Nudge said, dropping her book bag on the floor and flopping down on the ground next to the couch. "How was your day?"

"Fine," I said, leaning my head on the arm of the couch. "What about you?"

"School was school," Nudge replied. "I have math homework."

I displayed the proper amount of sympathy before moving on to the next kid, looking at Iggy. "And you?"

He grunted, going into the kitchen and returning with a turkey sandwich minutes later.

"El?"

"Well, Mr. Malloy said that if you really wanted to skip school again you didn't have to go through all the trouble," she reported. "But he also gave his condolences."

"Gaz?"

"Fang called today," Gazzy said.

"About what?" I asked, thankful that no one in the room could hear my heart beating but me.

"Said they found a place that may or may not be the source of the new threats coming in. About four hours away, in Utah. They explored as much as they could before taking off, flying around in Nevada before coming back here," Gazzy said, flopping down in the recliner. "He wanted to stop by later to talk to you about it."

I hadn't known they went looking for any branches of Itex. I guess being connected to Fang doesn't really help much these days, anyways. Still, it kinda bothered me he hadn't trusted me with this info earlier.

"Where's Angel?" I asked, straining my neck.

"In here," she called, walking out of the kitchen. "My friends and I played partner tag at recess today, although it wasn't as fun as it is in the air."

"What about you, Dylan?"

"Just another day," he said, snatching a pack of fruit snacks from my lap and tearing it open, dropping a handful into his mouth. I scowled. How does someone make eating Monsters Inc. fruit snacks look sexy?

I shook my head, looking away. Was it wrong of me to think about Dylan like that? Especially now that Fang was in the picture?

But…Fang and I weren't officially together. We weren't officially anything. I wasn't sure what the deal was. I was just…super confused.

Basically, Fang and my relationship could be described as a lot of tension - both the sexual and irritable kind - mixed a lot of kissing without really solving any of our problems.

We're just great.

I think I wanted us to be together. I loved him, he loved me, and we had cleared up all _that _confusion, but now there was the _what do we do next? _kind of thing going on. Should we be together? Should we put our personal issues aside so I can lead the flock?

I, personally wanted to be with him. But the latter seemed smarter to me, more logical. What did he think?

Again, you'd think our knew mind-reading connection would come in handy. Nada.

Anyways.

After about an hour or two of hanging out in the living room and doing homework, Ella decided that she and the girls were going to take the dogs out for a walk since Mom wasn't home to do it. As the boys got comfortable in the living room and Iggy started searching for something to cook for dinner, I stood up on one foot and became determined.

I was going to take a shower. Even if it killed me.

It almost did. I almost broken my neck hopping my way to the bathroom, and when I finally got inside I realized something.

My problem was that jeans were just so much easier to slip into than they were to pull off. I decided to get help for this little task instead of breaking my neck on a fall to the bathroom floor or something.

I groaned in frustration, pushing my forehead to the cold bathroom door.

"Iggy," I called, knowing he was the only one, unfortunately, who I could let help with this. The only other people in the house with me were boys who could _see_, so…yeah. Not happenin', brother.

"What?" he called, coming closer to the door. I opened it and quickly pulled him in.

"I need help," I mumbled, ashamed. I was just begging to be ridiculed for this. Whatever. It was die or be embarrassed. I chose to tough it out.

"With what?" he asked.

"Well I want to take a shower-" I began, but he cut me off, reaching for the door.

"That's not my job, if I recall-"

"Shut up! I'm not asking you to help me _in _the shower," I said. "I just…" I trailed off, mumbling the rest.

"You what?"

"I can't get my jeans off," I hissed through clenched teeth. Before the slow, sick smirk could complete it's transformation of his face, I shut it down.

"Seriously, could you just help me and get out?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are they unbuttoned?"

I started unbuttoning my jeans. To ease the awkwardness, I said, "Wouldn't it be just great if Ella walked in right now?"

He grabbed the fabric by my knees and tugged them down, gently over my thigh, saying, "You locked the door, didn't-"

To answer his question, the door flew open, hitting the kneeling Iggy in the head while I jarred my leg pulling my jeans up so fast. I bit my lip, my leg screaming with pain. I glared up at Fang, who stood in the doorway. Of all people…

"_What are you doing_?" I shouted.

"I didn't know, the door wasn't locked!"

"Get out!"

Iggy was crouched on the ground, cradling his head. His curses of pain mixed with the sound of his tickled laughter as he realized who had been at the door.

"Get out!" I shouted again, still mortified beyond belief. "Iggy!"

Iggy stood up and slipped out of the bathroom, unleashing louder laughter as I cried, "It isn't funny, damn it! And it sure as hell wasn't what it looked like!"

I sunk onto the closed toilet seat, huffing in frustration. I could hear Gazzy asking, "What? What happened?" and Iggy's response was another round of chortling.

I gave up, deciding it would be easier to just wait until I had someone else who would help me. There was no way I would ask Iggy again. And if they were going to joke about me I wanted to be there to beat them up.

I righted myself and hopped into the living room. I refused to look at any of them as they all laughed.

I noticed in my avoiding of eye contact that Maya and Holden were nowhere to be found, but there was a new black backpack by the door.

I could hear Fang's deep chuckling from my left. _Nothing he hasn't seen before, _I thought. I tried not to remember my clothing choice of one of our most recent dreams.

"You had something to talk to me about?" I asked, hopefully changing the conversation.

Fang sobered up, looking across the room at his backpack. He looked back at me, unsure. "Let's go somewhere private."

• • •

None of it made sense to me. I stared down at the files placed before me on my bedroom floor and sighed, trying to get myself to focus on the garble of scientific words.

"I feel really stupid," Fang said glumly next to me. I resisted the urge to reply with sarcasm and sifted through the pages again.

We were both on the floor in front of my bed, looking through the two files Fang had lifted from the lab in Utah. He was laying right next to me, his head down by my feet, his chin propped up in his hands as he tried to decipher the advanced text. I was sitting, my back leaning against my bed, paper spread out around me and stacked in my lap. The papers were recent, having been updated just two days ago. Fang had stolen them from the new lab he, Maya and Holden had broken into. They were our files.

"I concur," I replied smartly. "This one says 'Experiment 304, first successful human-avian genetic combination, has developed at least three new mutations within the last month'. That makes a smidgen of sense, at least." I let that sink in. Experiment 304 was my code.

Fang sat up and turned to look at me, crossing his long legs as his eyebrows furrowed. "That tells us a lot, actually."

"Yeah, like how somehow they're still spying on us," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Spying on at least one of us, most likely me, on a mental level. These aren't powers we do, they're mind powers."

Fang nodded. "And we know that these people are in collaboration with the School. They used the same experiment name for you."

Fang and I had made it our priority in the School to memorize each other's experiment names. By knowing the numbers by heart, we could tell when something was being planned for us or when we'd be taken into testing or something.

"This notes that 'The latest developments in experiments 304 and 307 introduce an emotional and mental connection beyond programming'," Fang read.

"We already knew that," I said. "The developments had to have been mutated because they're appearing now."

"They link us emotionally and mentally."

_And physically, _I thought, trying to focus on the current situation and not dwell in the constant fantasies Fang and I have been sharing.

Fang grinned, looking back down at his papers.

"'_The peculiar issue of the circumstance is that both recognize these developments, though refuse to let it bring them together. They are currently separated and traveling with different packs_'. Packs? We're wolves now?"

"Here we go," I said sitting up straighter. "'_It has been submitted by Dr. Adam Harrison that the experiments' rare condition may have been developed by their individual emotional state and desires_'."

Fang reached into his bag for his computer, while I continued to ponder this. "They think we helped develop our own mutations with our feelings," I mumbled. I skimmed for more information. "Here's a quote from the Adam guy. '_The two experiments already had the potential to mutate with new powers that helped them adapt to their very different life style. Jeb Batchelder had requested they both be programmed with unique connections in particular parts of the brain that could be triggered by emotional or associations, causing their minds to create the powers on their own. It is possible if not likely that the two created the bond recently and are now experiencing the mutation of new selective powers_'."

"This guy seems to know pretty much everything going on with our powers," Fang muttered, typing in the name. Google popped up with over two hundred thousand hits.

"_Jeb Batchelder_," I said, looking at Fang. "Jeb knew, and he lied. He's the one who requested we be connected in the first place."

"That's nothing new," Fang said sourly. "Jeb lying is old tricks. This guy," he said, moving so we were facing the same way so I could see the screen. "This guy is the one who might have some answers."

"It says he's graduated in all kinds of -ologies," I muttered as Fang scrolled through the search results.

"Works for the Department of Discoveries in Human Developments and Modifications," Fang read.

"Has worked there, in cooperation with the Department of DNA Research and Analysis, for twenty years," I said.

The Department of DNA Research and Analysis. Otherwise known as the proper name for the School, which it had been dubbed by the flock.

"I wonder if he knows Jeb," I pondered aloud. Fang shrugged.

"I don't know, but if we bust into this place again, I'll definitely bring you back some more papers on this guy."

I frowned. "But I want to go," I said.

Fang turned to look at me. "So we're going to start busting into labs together now, are we?"

"What, are you saying it's a bad idea? Afraid I'll drag you down?"

Fang was suddenly much closer. I realized that these past few days, we couldn't stay away from each other very long. I was starting to wonder if that was how it was supposed to be, and maybe the universe was speaking to us by dragging us into each others paths constantly.

As I thought about this, Fang moved in even closer, his breath on my neck. "Afraid they don't stand a chance," he whispered.

I turned to face him, almost bumping noses. His hands looked like they were itching to pull me closer, but knew he couldn't because of my leg. He figured it out, though.

He swung his leg over me, and he landed so he was kneeling above me, his knees on either side of my thighs. I sat up a bit, trying to level out with him.

"Fang, I thought we weren't gonna-" I said nervously, but didn't finish. Fang finished for me.

"Screw it," Fang said huskily.

It was nothing intense. Simply the capture of his mouth against mine. But it was sweet relief from the stress of the past two days, and though I was worried where we'd be after this, I didn't want him to leave anytime soon.

He seemed to either read my mind - possible - or feel the same way - probable - as he pulled my mouth closer, his hands behind my head. My hands pressed halfheartedly against his abdomen, but I had no intention of pushing him away. More like I just wanted to feel him. Our mouths separated, but we didn't lose the closeness. Fang's nose pressed against mine and I kept my eyes closed, ready for the next gentle press of his lips. Craving it, needing it.

The door opened.

"Knock!" I barked, eyes still closed, and whoever it was shut the door and knocked.

"No, I'm busy," I answered.

Fang grinned, pushing his mouth to mine for a second, long enough for me to feel it, and then pulled away and collected the papers back into his bag. The door opened and it was Nudge.

"Iggy said you needed help with your pants?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I do."

• • •

_The beach. That is the destination of her newest dream. She turns in a circle, scanning for him. She's in her sweats and thermal top, having been freezing when she fell into bed. The cool ocean breeze makes her hug herself as she walks along, the waves crashing at her feet. It's dark, and she can see billions of stars above in the black sky. _

_He's already there. She wonders how he beat her there and he turns his head up to look at her. _

"_I'm quick to fall asleep when your snoring isn't around to keep me awake," Fang jokes. He's sitting in the sand, his sweatpants rolled up to his knees as his feet sit in the damp sand, the waves crashing over his toes every few seconds. Max sighs, sinking into the soft sand next to him. _

When she's not around, I'm surprised I get any sleep at all_, Fang thinks. Max smiles._

"_You get sleep because that's when we get alone time, remember?" _

_Fang looks at her. "What are we doing?" _

"_Let's just go with the flow," Max says, laying back in the sand. She scoops it up and lets it run through her fingers. _

_Fang lays down next to her on his back. His leg presses against hers, his shoulder grazing hers as he points out constellations. _

_Max watches him, still dragging her fingers through the sand between them. Her fingers graze his hand and he captures it, entwining his fingers. _

"_I guess you don't want to talk about it," he says slowly. "But I don't want to pretend around the others." _

_She groans, rolling over, and he spreads his arm out so she can rest her cheek on his bicep. "I think our rule shouldn't be about awake or asleep but whether we're around the flock or not," she starts. "But we can't try to sneak off to get time away from them, because that's what we tried to do last time and it was dangerous for them. We could always just be together but keep the PDA way down, but what's the fun in that? And if we're always waiting for alone time to come along, we won't ever be focused. The only time we can allow ourselves to be distracted is here, in our sleep. In the real world, we're constantly in danger, constantly being threatened. I don't know how-"_

"_Shut up," he says quietly, a small, playful smile spreading across his face. "We'll make it work." _

"_I already had to fight my gut instinct to run away screaming once," she says finally. "And once I finally gave in to you, that didn't end very well." _

"_Do you trust me?" he asks, turning his head to face hers. They are only an inch apart. _

_It's a really good question, and for a little while, Max doesn't know the answer. She decides to just say what first comes to mind, the honest-to-goodness truth. He deserves it. _

_Her lips fall open, gazing at his features and how the moonlight reflects in his eyes. She blinks. "I'm trying," she whispers. "I would trust you with my life or the flock's lives in a heartbeat. But I can't help but wonder about trying to have a relationship…"_

"_What if I promised I'd never leave again?" Fang whispers. And he would do it, she realizes. Fang would do anything for this, for them. If that's not enough to convince her, what is? He tries, and that's all Max can really hope for, right? At least he's trying? _

_And how can she say no? This is Fang, her best friend. The boy she grew up with, lived through hell and back with. The one who used to distract Iggy while she tied his shoelaces together, the one who would stand up to her and fight back. It's Fang. She knows him, inside and out. _

_So how can she say no? _

"_I don't do well with promises," she says. _

"_What if this," he breaths, "was a different kind of promise?" His hand that is holding hers untangles from her fingers to reach under her neckline and pull out the chain that still held the ring he'd given her. The promise ring that she'd gotten for her fifteenth birthday. _

"_It's only if you want," he said, unclasping the necklace and letting the ring fall off the chain into his calloused hand. "Only if you trust that I won't break it."_

"_Fang," she whispered. She felt dizzy, blurred, and realized she was being woken up. _

Already? _she thinks. _

_She tries to stay planted in dream world, focusing on Fang's eyes and the determined, nervous look in them. _

"_I'm being woken up," Max murmurs. _

"_Not yet," Fang pleads, but Max can't do anything about it. He pushes the ring onto her finger, looking at her seriously. He keeps holding her hand in his and she looks down at the ring glinting in the moonlight. She realizes something. _

"_Fang, that's my left-"_

"_I know," he breaths, pushing his mouth to hers. _


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you guys! Since I haven't been updating every day, I'll give you another one. I better get some good reviews!**

**Warning: Fight scene!**

Flying helps the mind. I mean, unless you're, like, afraid of heights.

For me, it helps me relax and gives me a peaceful place to slip into a mindless pattern of flapping my wings, so I can just think. Just, forget about the world and sort things out.

The six of us flew in a loose formation, Iggy and Dylan flanking me with the other three behind them.

Today had been my _real _last day of school. Christmas was only a week away now, and the kids had been reluctant to leave the safety and warmth of Mom's. But it had to be done. We had to get out there, figure out what our next move was, and finish this mission. I was determined to do it. Even if they were dragging me down a tiny bit.

"Everyone doing okay back there?" I asked. We had to take more stops than usual the farther north we got due to the fact that it was December and we were waaay high up. I was planning on stopping for dinner then flying about another hour to meet Fang.

Fang. I hiked up the sleeve of my sweatshirt and glanced down at my promise ring, wondering about him for the umpteenth time today. I hadn't wanted to take it off my ring finger because I felt like it would be betraying Fang's promise to me somehow. Thankfully no one noticed due to my long sleeves. That was how I wanted to keep it. This, at least, could be mine and Fang's secret.

Though I still wasn't sure if it meant what I thought it meant.

Or if I was ready for it to mean something like that.

"I'm good," Dylan said.

Iggy nodded, calling, "Fine here."

"I'm alright," Nudge said. "Though I wish I had some stronger gloves. These aren't doing it for me. And my toes have gotten numb, so maybe when we stop to get gloves we could get some better, warmer socks. My coat is nice and keeps my body heat in good, but a scarf would be nice. I could wrap it around my face so the wind didn't burn my cheeks as much, and it would also make me look way cuter…maybe a green one to match my shoes?"

"If she gets a scarf, it'll be to gag her motor mouth," Gazzy said suddenly. "I'm fine, by the way. A bit hungry."

"I'm okay," Angel called to me. _But I could go for some hot cocoa._

_You and me both, kid. _

"I think we could drop down in this town for some food, then we've got about an hour more before meeting up with Fang at the hotel."

I knew they were all really excited to be getting hotel rooms tonight. I just hoped whatever hotel Fang decided on would be within price range. We'd need to hit an ATM before so I could get cash from the Max card.

I motioned us down into a dead part of an old town and pulled in my wings, readjusting my sweatshirt. The rest of the flock landed in a choppy circle around me, making themselves appear normal.

Dylan pointed into the distance at a small café and I nodded, ushering the flock towards the building. We slipped in through the glass doors and got a booth. An old lady with curly gray hair and a nametag that said Beatrice greeted us.

"Careful on the tile, it's slippery," she said in a high, happy voice. We made our way to the back of the mostly deserted café. Then Beatrice took our orders.

Once we all had our hot cocoas and various orders, I started listening carefully for thoughts. I'd been checking for him our entire trip, and finally, I could barely hear tidbits of Fang's thoughts floating to me. I focused harder.

_-wonder where Max is now, guess we should probably see if they're close…_

_Fang_, I thought. I kept focused, sipping my cocoa.

_Max? What's up? Everything good?_

_Everything's fine, _I thought. I looked up at the muted TV so I didn't look so weird to the others, sitting silent and still. _We've got about an hour left. Stopped for food. _

_We're at the hotel, _Fang's voice floated through my mind. _Regency Suites. Got two double rooms on the fifth floor that are connected. Holden and Maya are in them now. I'm in the lobby, waiting for you guys. _

_We're about to get going, _I thought. I looked around. Everyone was finishing up.

"Okay guys," I said, interrupting a game of tick-tack-toe. "Let's head out."

• • •

"Listen up," I said finally, looking around at everyone. The night at the hotel had been uneventful, and for me, sleepless. Now we about half a mile away from the building in Utah, which was placed in the middle of nowhere. It was extremely early in the morning; early enough for some people to not have even gone to bed yet.

"We're splitting up into groups," I said. "No switching. No negotiating, okay? We're all a team."

No one objected, so I guessed either they were too tired to hear what was going on or they agreed.

"There are three entrances to the building that we're going to break into," I said, smoothing out the map that Fang had lifted the last time they'd broken in. "Fang; you, Maya and Holden are going in through the back. Me, Nudge and Iggy are going in through the side. Angel, Gazzy and Dylan are going to keep look out and create a distraction from the front, in case we all run into trouble. Fang's team is looking for more files on all of us. My group is going to look for more information on the staff. Everyone clear?"

Everyone seemed neutral.

"Alright, then," I concluded, spinning to look at the Department of Discoveries in Human Developments and Modifications. "Let's go."

Nudge, Iggy and I made our way to the side as Maya, Holden and Fang flew in a circle around the building towards the back.

"Ig, door," I said, and Iggy fell on the lock with his sensitive hands. "There's probably an alarm system," I reminded him.

"I've got it," he said after a minute. "Do you have a bobby pin?"

Nudge pulled a bobby pin out of her hair that was holding back her fluffy mane. Iggy bent the bobby pin a bit and slid it into the doorway, stopping the alarm. He swung the door open and motioned us in.

"Nice work," I said. _Could it be this easy?_ We shuffled in and ran down the hall together as quietly as we could. I still had the map, so I easily found the office we were looking for that hopefully had the papers needed. In the office it was dark and I realized that it was a good choice on my part to make us get here before sunrise. We'd flown all day yesterday, stopped in the forest, then showed up this morning at about three AM.

"Nudge, computer," I said quietly, and she sat down at the desk, turning on the monitor. "Ig, over here."

There were filing cabinets behind the desk. I looked at the labels, and they were alphabetically organized. I got to the cabinet that said A-D and pulled Iggy towards it, letting him do his thing on the lock. Once he had the drawer out, I searched for Harrison's files. Then, just to humor myself, I looked for Batchelder.

• • •

Fang knew the window was probably still open from last time, and he jiggled the frame a bit before sliding the large window open. Holden and Maya climbed in and Fang was last, shutting the window behind him.

He pointed forward wordlessly, and the two moved down the hall stealthily. Looking back at Fang for confirmation, Maya jerked her thumb to the doorway to her left. He nodded, and she worked the lock with a bobby pin.

After about five minutes, the door clicked and Maya opened it, letting the two boys rush in. She wasn't Iggy, but she was good enough.

Fang made his way quickly to the filing cabinet where he'd lifted his and Max's folders. He pulled it open roughly, breaking the lock, and started looking through papers. Max and Fang's papers had been on top, not filed, so he'd just grabbed them and ran. Now he wracked his brains, trying to remember each flock member's number.

He found Iggy's file, then Angel's. He tried not to get Nudge's and Gazzy's mixed up. Each cabinet held about fifty to one hundred files.

After about twenty minutes, while Maya kept watch and Holden shoved Fang's findings into his backpack, they were done.

"Back to the window and out, now," Fang hissed, and practically pushed Holden out the door. Maya followed quickly, and Fang shut the door behind him, racing down the hall.

"Uh oh," Maya said, around the same time they all heard Angel's voice in their minds.

_A TRAP!_

They slammed to a halt, staring out the large windows to see an army of Erasers surrounding the building, as far as they could see.

• • •

I kneeled by the filing cabinet, shoving Harrison's bulging file into my bag. Nudge was printing off papers in the corner.

"Nudge, you ready? How many more?" I whispered, slipping my backpack onto my shoulders.

"This should be the last one," she said, grabbing the paper from the machine.

"Okay, let's go," I said, and Iggy opened the door that led to the hallway.

_A TRAP! _

We looked at each other, horrified. Running out into the hall we almost collided with Dylan, Angel and Gazzy.

"They know," Angel said. "I can hear the thoughts of scientists all around the building. They've got-"

"An army," Nudge said. She had ran down the hall and looked out the window. We rushed down to her and looked out to…a huge army of Erasers. Surrounding the entire building. Way more than the nine of us could handle. As we watched, we saw Fang, Maya and Holden running into the line of Erasers, launching into battle.

"Go!" I shouted.

We slammed open the emergency doors and rushed out into fight. There were…hundreds. Hundreds of Erasers, the new hybrid. This was impossible.

Springing into action, we all took on multiple Erasers at a time. There were scientists, too, but they were easily avoiding the fight. The bloodthirsty monsters fell on us with no mercy. I shouted, kicking one in the stomach and elbowing another between the eyes.

"Angel, Nudge, Gazzy! U and A, now!"

They either didn't hear me or directly disobeyed my orders. Which was not making me a happy camper.

_Max, this is a suicide mission without us, _Angel thought to me.

I smacked both hands down on the Eraser's ears, slamming my knee into his stomach. He screamed in agony.

_This is a suicide mission with _or _without you, _I thought, knowing she was still in my mind. _Go!_

But I could see Angel, and I could also see the unwavering, stubborn look on her face as she made two Erasers begin to whale on each other fiercely.

I finished my four and looked around, seeing if anyone needed help.

Fang was taking on six at a time. He whirled and smashed his fist into one's snout then sent a hard kick to the creatures face, and that one was down. Turning to the next, he sent a roundhouse kick to the crouching, snarling Eraser's jaw, then slammed an unconscious Eraser's body down on his, Fang's face murderously focused.

His eyes flashed to meet mine.

He raised an amused eyebrow, breathing heavy. I nodded, dazed, trying not to get distract.

That was really, _really_ hot-

_Duck._

I ducked and reached up, catching the Eraser's hairy leg, twisting it so he lost his balance then yaked it up, watching him fall. I kicked his head, hard.

_Voice? _I thought, snapping my foot out to break an Eraser's arm. He screamed, falling. I backhanded him, hard.

_Fang, _he thought. I swear he sounded smug, even in the predicament we were in. _Just thought you should stop fantasizing about me and start fighting to win. _

Despite his jab at my thoughts, I felt anger rush through me. Fight to win? I whirled on two more Erasers and pummeled them, slamming a third into them with a hard, well-placed kick to the chest that probably broke a few ribs. I took a deep breath.

It was as if we didn't even make a dent. At least a good hundred were closing in on us. We had to get out of here.

I punch another Eraser and a steady flow of blood began from his nose. He stumbled backwards but I kicked his kneecap and heard a nauseating pop as he fell back, yelling in pain.

"That's enough," a voice over an intercom said loudly. "Anesthetize them."

Nudge fell onto the ground next to me with a clipped yell. Fang was down in seconds. Holden, Maya, Dylan, Angel, Gazzy, Iggy…

A painful sting in my shoulder. I looked down, shocked. There was a tranquilizer dart in my arm.

Not good.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **

**Electric Ella: Thank you! No, I don't take it personally at all. I love criticism. And yeah, sometimes I don't look over my work as thoroughly as I should. Plus, since I do the dreams in present tense and the story in past (same with dreams in 3rd person om. and story in first) I get a little mixed around sometimes. Then there are times that I try to sound like Max would sound, even if it isn't correct. But you're right, I have got some work to do on my writing! Thank you. Much love!**

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**As to everyone else who reviewed (and who review each time) you guys are _amazing_! I would list your names, but my computer is so dumb and everytime I update with a list of my wonderful reviewers my document does this weird thing where it erases, like, half the update. Awesome, right? I know. Whatever, r****ead on!**

I sat up, my palm pressed to my sweaty, dirty forehead. I took a deep breath and looked around. A dirty, grungy cell.

I don't know about you, but I really, really hate waking up in _dirty, grungy cells_.

"Report," I said. Then I coughed, my throat dry and sore. How long had it been since our break-in-gone-wrong? I looked around at all the limp bodies and rasped out louder, "Report!"

Nudge was the first to come to. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I'm okay," she said. "I think some of my ribs are bruised, but nothing's broken."

I nodded, standing up and walking over to the wall that was all bars. Like a jail. Hah. I wish this place was a jail. Maybe that would be a step up.

There were unlabeled bottles of water. How thoughtful. I tossed her one, opening one for myself and chugging it. I guess they cared about at least keeping us hydrated.

Gazzy sat up, rubbing his head. "Man, this sucks," he said. "We should've brought bombs."

I smiled and handed him a bottle, too. Dylan sat in the corner, looking more or less in one piece. I chucked him one and he shot me a thankful glance.

"Max?" Angel said from the other side of the room. She looked sick, her face twisted with pain.

"Where?" I asked, knowing she was hurt and leaning over her. Iggy made his way over soundlessly.

"My arm," she said. Iggy caringly scooped it into his hands, holding her arm gingerly.

"Clean break," he said as Angel watched him warily. "Anyone got an extra sweatshirt?"

"They took our bags," I said, shucking mine off. I tossed it to him and straightened my long sleeve shirt.

I gave everyone else water and completed the check. No one else was seriously injured. We had the same old same old, including the routine cuts, scrapes and bruises. I leaned against the wall, looking around again, my eyes meeting Fang's.

I sighed, sitting down by Angel and gently wrapping my arm around her. Iggy had ripped my sweatshirt in two, making a tight bandage for her arm and a sling.

"Max?" Nudge asked. I looked up at her, across the room. She didn't look alarmed or worried, but she did look confused.

"What? What's up?"

"Never mind," Nudge said, looking inwardly conflicted. "Later."

"Okay," Gazzy said standing up. "What's the plan, then? What now? How we busting out of here?"

"There will be no 'busting out of here'," a high pitched, prissy voice said. We all turned to see a blonde woman standing with four Erasers flanking her on either side. "That one, first. Then we'll send a surgeon to get the injured little one."

Well, to answer Gazzy's question, he was first.

• • •

Gazzy was tired of flying.

Usually he loved flying; flying made him feel like a super hero. Kids at school had only ever dreamed of being able to carry themselves in the air, to do loops and swoops and fly with their very own wings. Flying was really great…unless you were flying under these conditions.

Gazzy quickly folded in his wings, dodging another flying block of debris the size of his fist that was hurtling toward his face. Then he did a mid-air roll to the left as a flaming ball of fire almost hit his right arm. Taking a deep breath, he started his swooping evasive moves that Max had taught them when they first learned to fly.

_Don't let yourself fall into a pattern. Patterns are predictable. Be unpredictable. If you surprise yourself with your moves, you'll surprise your enemy. _

Gazzy was amazed how his old lessons from Max could come back to him so vividly after years and years. He remembered how she'd thrown baseballs and golf balls at the flock as they flew in the air to teach them how to deal with situations just like this. She'd shoot Nerf guns, and whenever hit, Iggy and Fang would fall out of the sky as if they'd been real bullets.

Another piece of debris, almost the size of his head, just barely missed his hip. Ooh, that was close. He needed to focus. The things being thrown at him were probably going about fifty, sixty miles per hour. He was in a large, domed room. Like an arena. The room was all white, blinding white. There were scientists in a little booth on the ground, staring up at him and taking notes.

Two fireballs came from either side of Gazzy and he surged upward, letting them collide beneath him and send ashes and sparks down on the spectators.

_Take that, you buttheads_, he thought, and he flew upward. Another fireball rocketed toward him, but this time he wasn't out of the way enough. He screamed in pain as the fiery ball burned his shirt and pants and the skin on his stomach. It hurt so bad he was going to be sick…

The Gasman almost couldn't think. The flying things stopped as he landed, hard, hitting the tile ground on his knees, vomiting.

The scientists jotted notes hastily.

• • •

An Eraser delivered the Gasman's limp body within the next three hours, and I tried not to shriek with rage as they threw him in like a sack of potatoes. I crawled over to him, pushed back his overgrown blonde hair and felt his forehead. His stomach was taped up. He was sweating. Nudge brought over a water bottle and I blotted the sweat and dirt off his forehead with the hem of my shirt.

The cold water seemed to bring him back to consciousness. He looked like he was in a terrible amount of pain, and I sent him reassuring looks.

"Bad?" I asked.

"Third degree burn," he said, gulping water. "Fireball hit me in the stomach at sixty-seven miles per hour."

I bit my lip, brushing his hair back. "Hang in there."

I stood up, looking at the others. "Okay, we have no idea who they're taking next. But we know they're throwing new tricks at us. Ones we've never faced before. So let's just rest up and drink a lot of water and try to stay optimistic. We'll be out of here in no time."

"Experiment 304. Maximum Ride," a male voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a middle aged man with dark brown hair standing in a long white coat. I glared at him, although I had no idea who he was. I did know one thing: He was on one side of the bars, I was on the other. As far as I was concerned, we were enemies. "My goodness, you sure have grown, my dear."

"Who are you?" Nudge asked.

"I am the advisor of the human-avian experiment that is the flock," he said cheerily. "I helped Jeb create you six, the original six. We were coworkers. But honestly, I am here because you are all slated for termination, and I just don't think that should happen. You all have so much to offer. I sincerely believe in you."

"Oh, sincerity," I said. "Okay, guys, let's tell this guy everything and show him the secret handshake!" I shook my head, looking at him with disgust. "Just because you sweet talk like Jeb doesn't mean you can get us to jump into the palm of your hand and do your every command."

"Maximum," he said. "Do you know who I am?"

And I did, now. His clues had been enough, and I glanced at Fang, seeing the same look on his face.

"Adam Harrison," I said.

"Yes," he said, smiling. "You know what that means, don't you?"

I cocked an eyebrow, crossing my arms. The classic 'Bad-ass Bird Kid' move.

"I have all the answers to your questions."

I stood there, not responding. I knew he was right. He _did _have all the answers. And I did have a _lot _of questions.

"I'm not like them," he said. "And I'm sure you've heard that a million times before, but it is true. I still want to see you and the flock succeed in overthrowing Itex."

I stood there, impassive. "Well, isn't that special?" I asked.

A younger man with blonde hair and glasses walked down the hall to our cell. "I need the little one with the broken arm - Oh, good morning, Dr. Harrison."

"Hello, Arthur," Dr. Harrison said. "Her name is Angel." Then, without another word to us, he turned and walked away down the corridor.

"Uh, okay," the dude said, looking after Harrison weirdly. "Come on then, uh, _Angel_."

Angel looked at me and I nodded slightly before she stood up and made her way to the man who held out his hand for hers. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of sight.

After a long time, probably hours, Angel still hadn't come back but our meal had been delivered. It was supposed to be loaded with calories. There was no taste. Nudge and I sat away from the rest of the group, the Gasman next to me getting sleep. Fang and Iggy sat on the other side of the small cell, talking quietly. Dylan, Holden and Maya were all resigned, sitting against the wall, new to this _being captured and tortured _thing.

"Max," Nudge whispered. "Why are you wearing Fang's ring on your left hand?"

I looked down at my hand, realizing I didn't have a sweatshirt to hide it anymore. Iggy had used my sweatshirt to wrap up Angel's arm.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. No explanation. I just looked at her.

"I was going to ask earlier but figured I shouldn't draw any attention to it in case you hadn't said anything for a reason," she looked around and lowered her voice. "But you do know that your left ring finger is the engagement finger, right? Like, for weddings and stuff? Marriage?" Nudge left her question hanging in the air, her eyes wide and curious.

I bit my lip. I realized Fang was watching us.

"It fits better on this one," I said finally, glancing up and shrugging at Fang, who was making a face at my lie. Whatever. Shut up. This was his stupid fault anyways.

Nudge looked at me, disbelieving. "No, it doesn't. When he gave it to you on your birthday you wore it on that hand," she said, pointing to my right.

I quickly and briefly explained to Nudge what had happened and she soaked it in greedily.

Nudge grinned. "_Cute_," she hissed excitedly, grabbing my hand.

"Nudge," I said, yanking my hand away and blushing.

I watched her look at my ring, wondering when she'd started to grow up, when she'd become so mature. She'd really grown up these past few years, and it was definitely showing. Even though Nudge was making a show of something I didn't even know was the real deal, I didn't feel like ripping away the one thing in this place that was making her happy. So I let her chatter on and did my best to play along.

"-how Ella and your mom are doing…I wonder if Dr. Martinez is worried about us," Nudge continued. "Maybe-"

"Okay," A woman said. "We need the tall dark one and you," she said, pointing to me. Angel stood next to the woman's side, looking beat. I smiled lightly at her.

_Just swimming test, _Angel projected to my mind. _Underwater obstacle course meant to test my endurance. I'm good. They put my arm in a cast, too. _

I glanced down at her arm and nodded. She walked into the room and sat down by her brother, taking the plateful of food we'd saved for her. Fang and I stood up, looking at each other.

_Here we go, _I thought, and I knew he was listening.

_Maybe we'll see a way out, _he thought.

Oh, God, I hoped.

• • •

Fang stood at the entrance to the arena, knowing he could probably expect thirty to sixty Erasers, all hungry for him. He took a deep breath, looking straight ahead. The first thing he should do is get in the sky-

"Fang."

Fang turned, his eyes landing on Dr. Harrison who stood behind him in the doorway to his tiny room.

Fang narrowed his eyes, turning his back on the scientist. Fang loved treating the scientists like dirt. It was only fair, since that's the way Fang had been treated since birth. And if karma didn't get them, he would.

"Fang, do not let them get into your head," Dr. Harrison said. "I know you can do this. I have faith in you. The rest of the staff here and at the other Departments have given up on you. Batchelder and I know that you and the flock are advanced and that you can save the world. You need to show them that you are capable."

Fang froze the doctor out. What was new about that? Of course, they'd always known that they wanted them dead. The flock was used to being wanted dead. So used to it that being safe had become weird.

"You are capable, Fang," he said lowly. "Remember: Don't let your guard down. Light is not always a good thing."

Fang stared straight ahead. Light is not always a good thing? Fang refused to let his confusion show on his face or in his stance. Harrison didn't need to know anything more about Fang than he already did.

"Light is _not _a good thing," Harrison repeated softly. Fang thought, _this guy is crazy. What the hell was he talking about? _

Before Fang could even think about responding (he probably wasn't going to anyways), the door slid open. Fang ran out into the arena only to find-

Max.

Just Max. She watched him, her eyes worried.

_Max? _Fang knew that this place could've just made another clone of the real Max, so he wanted to be sure it was her.

_Yeah, it's me. You think they're going to unleash a surprise attack on us, or what?_

Before Fang could even think, a deep, serious voice over the intercom said, "The competition begins in three seconds. The last one standing will move on. There is only one champion."

Fang stared at Max, and she mirrored the look of complete horror on his face.

"Begin."

**A/N:So, I've re-read this so many times I didn't feel like checking for errors. Sorry.**

**The light thing…yeah…just, bear with me. It will make sense eventually. **

**If I get SIXTY (so, like, eight more) reviews, I'll update again TONIGHT. Yes, tonight. Like, before tomorrow tonight. So, review!**

**Challenge accepted? I hope so. Show me some love.**

**fangsallmine1123**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: You guys gave me my reviews...which I loved. Thanks so much! So, uh, I promised this if you gave me reviews. Here ya go!**

If Fang and I hadn't already made up and I hadn't forgiven him…would I still hesitate to whale on him? To beat him up and punish him for being such an ass to me?

No, probably not. But I _did _hesitate, because Fang and I _had _made up. So I stood before him for a millisecond before the words registered completely in my head.

_Only one champion. _

Who was I to let Fang be that one champion?

Come to think of it, since when had I ever let him beat me at _anything_?

And after all of this ran through my mind, Fang still looked like he wasn't about to attack me. So I made the first move, launching a kick at Fang's stomach.

It was like sparring, like the old days. Like practice. Fang and I both had killer moves and reflexes. Hopefully these scoundrels would just let us call it a tie after a few minutes of an even match.

Fang threw a hard punch at my left eye and I barely dodged it, sucking in a breath and getting ready to block out the pain. But he moved his fist at the last second with true skill and I sent my heel towards his kneecap, my intent nothing more than a bruise. He jumped out of the way, flipping me around to wrap an arm around my neck and bring my arms back.

I slammed my body against his, bucking out of his grip, which, I have to admit, he hadn't been holding me _that_ tightly in the first place. He stood before me, breathing heavily, examining me. I launched my fist towards his nose but he caught it and twisted it, hard. I snarled, yanking it away.

_You good? _His thoughts were easier to read, now. It was like he was sending them instead of me finding them.

_Dandy, _I responded, kicking him in the chest hard enough to break a grown man's ribs. He stumbled back, his breath momentarily knocked out of him.

I reached up to punch the side of his head but he ducked and rolled, ending up on his knees about two feet away from me. I snapped out my foot and he caught it flipping me onto my stomach.

_Now_ I was annoyed. Resisting the urge to scream in frustration, I yanked my foot out of his grip and slammed it back, kicking him in the chest. I stood, spun around, and growled furiously as my hair got in my eyes.

Fang grinned, taking my wrist and spinning me. I kicked him, hard, and he shook his leg to escape the burst of pain, growling low in my ear.

It was my turn to smirk as I snapped out of his grip and tried to punch him again. He blocked it effortlessly, and I spun, sending a roundhouse kick to his chest that he dodged, but _just_ barely. That's right. I'm just that good.

Fang used his wings to jump over me and land behind me. He grabbed both my wrists and-

_I was standing in the foyer of Dr. Martinez's house. I shoved my arms into my leather jacket that had been hanging on the coat rack and jerked open the front door, stepping out onto the porch in the cold winter air. _

"_Fang!" _

_I didn't turn around. I stepped off the porch, the want to get away pulling at me like a magnet. _

"_Fang! Stop!" _

_I turned around to face her. Max. She stood on the porch, her arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes were wet with tears. She was standing barefoot on the porch, in only shorts and a long t-shirt. The snow was floating down thickly between us and coating the yard around me. _

"_You promised never to leave me again," she accused, tears on her cheeks. _

_It tore me apart to see her like that. But…_

"_I need to think," I replied. _

_She stepped out into the snow, soaking her socks. "Come think _inside_," she said. "Don't just...leave." _

"_It's hard," I said. "So much has changed…"_

_Tears continued down her cheeks. "What, so…Now that it's gotten hard on you you're just going to skip out? Now that it's not coming easily-"_

"_It's never come easily for me!" I shouted. "But I'm trying to figure it out, trying not to worry about you…and them… Max, and I can't…"_

"_Fang, don't you get it?" she cried. "We're going through the same thing! _Talk to me_!" _

_I turned away from her. _

"_Fang!"_

I was back in the arena, and I was myself again.

I was leaning against the wall opposite of Fang in the arena, my skull screaming in pain. Fang had actually carried out the move, having flung me across the room. If I'd been _conscious_, I could've flung my wings open and avoided the wall, which was what he had expected me to do.

Scientists were ordering Erasers to take us back to our cell.

I was panting hard, staring at Fang, willing him to turn and look at me. He finally did. And his look was apologetic.

I didn't care that he had thrown me. I only cared about my vision.

Fang was going to leave me again.

• • •

"What happened in there?" Dr. Harrison wasn't actually _yelling_ at me, but he seemed angry. He was good at masking his emotions. "They are not happy with either of your performances."

I put my head in my hands. Fang had already asked me twice what I saw but I just couldn't tell him. All I had told him was that I had a new power: I was seeing visions of the _future_. Not only was I a raving-psychic now, but in my visions I was _him_, not me. It was so odd.

I didn't want to think about it, but it was hard not too.

Fang hadn't had a vision in the arena. I guessed that it had been triggered when he grabbed my wrists, but maybe it had just been lucky timing. I wasn't sure.

All I was sure about was what I'd seen. What I'd felt. Fang was going to leave me again. And I couldn't believe that I'd been stupid enough to forgive him, and let him back in, and trust him…It had definitely been a mistake.

Now he was just going to leave me in the dust. Again.

Knowing he was going to shatter my heart into pieces, and that I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening, _sucked_.

"Do you really think I _care _that they aren't happy with us?" I snapped, my mind occupied. _I stepped off the porch, the want to get away pulling at me like a magnet. _I blinked, trying to ignore the painful twist in my stomach as I thought of Fang leaving, of Fang_ wanting to leave_. When he'd left last time, he had said it was because he had to.

Now it would be because he _wanted_ to. That hurt.

No matter how much I wanted to crawl into the corner and curl up and cry, I had more important things to focus on right now, like the fact that I needed to get the flock out of here.

I stood up, looking around at the others. "Everyone okay?" I asked quietly, trying to contain my emotions. Each one of them nodded.

"Good. If Adam over here could get me some Advil, we'd all be in tip top shape."

"You and your friends haven't been in tip top shape for a long time," a voice said. Dr. Harrison stepped aside respectfully for the new woman in view, so I figured she was in charge.

She had fiery red hair that looked almost as angry as she did. Her green eyes pierced me with a look of disgust. I glared at her, then wondered blandly what Fang thought of her.

"Let's go through the list, shall we?" she asked, her heels clicking against the cement ground beneath us. "The littlest one is easily injured and often mentally unstable. The smallest boy is obviously not quick enough for anything useful with _those _reflexes. Now this one," she said, looking at Nudge, "only has two downfalls, and that would be her consistent chatter and problem with focus. The blind one is obviously a failure, I'm surprised he's made it _this_ far - the dark one has failed every single test, especially the test of being around you, _Maximum Ride_. You have failed in your leadership tests, your perseverance in arena was a laughing stock, and of course, the fact that you are utterly distracted by things that _don't matter_. Your clone has lost all potential she ever had when she joined your little group. The skinny boy can re-grow his body parts and heal wounds, but that doesn't make up for his horrible fighting and his scared composure. And the clone produced by Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen…has his head in the clouds and knows about as much as an infant child. _Distractions_."

The entire flock was fuming as she said all this. I glanced at Iggy out of the corner of my eye, seeing him curl his fists in fury.

"I would like to say I'm sorry, Dr. Harrison. But all I can say is I told you so. The nine of them will be transferred to the Department of Creations and Expirations in Michigan. Tonight."

The woman walked away quickly and Dr. Harrison turned to us, looking disconsolate.

"What is that?" I asked, watching the rest of the flock turn to me, a mixture of fear and anger on their faces.

"The Department of Creations and Expirations. It is where all of you - except for Maya, Dylan and Holden - began. You spent your first year of life in the creations wing of the institute. Now, you will be in the other wing. The expiration wing."

"We're going to die?" Nudge asked, horrified. "Like, _really_, _seriously_ going to die this time?"

"What's up with all of these Departments?" I asked, letting my arms wrap around Nudge.

"The very first Itex Corporation - where it all began - wanted to expand its resources, so they placed parts of their institute in the U.S. The Department of Creations and Expirations is where you all were when you were born and turned into human-avian mutants. The Department of DNA Research and Analysis is where you were studied and trained to fight Erasers and given your powers. Here, at the Department of Discoveries in Human Developments and Modifications, you were all kept under surveillance and your powers were tracked. There are other Departments as well, but think of these three as like the three branches of government. All with certain jobs." Dr. Harrison took a break from talking as two Erasers brought another meal. We dug in, starving.

Harrison continued his explanation calmly, "After a few years, the Itex Corporation decided to start the world over again, make it perfect. They called their plan the By-Half Plan, and everyone at the Departments were expected to help. But, at each of them there were people strongly against destroying half the world and massacring all the people. So Jeb Batchelder and I began to create you six in to stop Itex. To all of them, it appeared as if we were just continuing our research. But truthfully, you were our...secret weapons."

What I wanted to ask was _Where is the first Itex Corp. located? _But Fang beat me to it.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Fang asked calmly. The others were all buzzing with nervousness and fear. "Because we're going to die soon anyways?"

"No," Dr. Harrison said, matching Fang's calm composure. "I've always helped you. Whether you realized it or not."

"How?" I demanded. "By standing there and not unlocking this cage, not helping us escape? How are you helping us _right now_?"

"Jeb Batchelder was not the only one who really cared about the six of you. The other scientists thought of you as experiments without a purpose. They did not respect you. Your father, Maximum, and I… we actually did care."

I watched him, never letting down my gaze. He continued to say, "It is quite a shame that you must be expired. I will do all I can."

"That's got to be a lot, right? You could stop this?" Nudge asked.

"I do not know," he said. "I wish I could. I will try. Dr. Batchelder will be furious to hear about this."

"I'm sure he'll be so angry that his daughter has been sentenced to _death_," Iggy said. "Death. Not expiration. Not retired. Don't you get it?"

"Of course I get it," Dr. Harrison said, looking serious. "I understand fully what you are all facing. I've already admitted that I am trying everything I can to get you out."

"Go try somewhere else," Gazzy said despondently. "Leave us alone."

Harrison looked unsure, but he walked away and down the hall. When we couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, no one spoke. Gazzy pulled his sister close and just sat with his arms around her. Nudge detangled herself from my grip and sat down by herself in the corner. I looked around. Holden looked frightened. He'd only volunteered to be here on Fang's blog, thinking it'd been victory after victory like in the comics.

Now he was going to die with us.

"We're not dead yet," Fang said.

I thought back to my last vision, realizing that it had been at Mom's house. That gave me a surge of hope, and I looked around. Angel stared up at me with wide, scared eyes. Maya was watching me, too. And Fang…

I sighed, sitting down by Iggy. I pressed my shoulder against his to let him know it was me.

"My vision in the arena was at Mom's house," I announced softly. "We're getting out of here, guys. I promise."

• • •

_She's in a cave._

_Not like the caves she and the flock usually sleep in that only go in about ten feet. Not an outcropping or a rock shelter in the side of a cliff. _

_No, this cave is dark and mysterious. It omits chilly air, making the hair on her arms stand up. She can hear rushing water deeper into the cavern and doesn't want to venture into the darkness. _

_She just wants to sleep. She misses her dreamless sleep. Especially at times like this when she doesn't want to talk with Fang. When she wants to avoid him completely. _

_She wishes she would've taken her chance today and beaten the shit out of him. He deserved it. He deserved to hurt like she did. Like she will, once he leaves her again. For what, the third time? _

_Every time she thinks about her vision, she feels sick. He had been desperate to get away from her, desperate to escape. How was that fair? When he keeps telling her he loves her and he wants to be with her, how is it fair for him to want to escape her? _

_He is there. He comes out of the darkness, as if a shadow taking form. As if something from a nightmare. But his face is soft and worried, and she knows that he knows what her vision was of. She hadn't used mind blocks since the arena and it is all she's been thinking about. _

"_It's not going to happen," he pleads. Tears are in her eyes before she can say anything and she turns away. She is _done_ crying over him. He's turned her into a big softie, and it was probably what she resented most about him. She wasn't herself around him. _

_It's as if he does it on purpose! _

"_I don't," he whispers, bringing her to his chest. "I don't do it on purpose, Max. I don't want to see you cry." _

_Her back is pressed against his chest. She's breathing heavily, tears streaking her face. He rests his chin on her shoulder and his nose nuzzles her gently. She finds this kind of out of character, but knows he's trying to comfort her. She doesn't want it. _

"_You say that now," she mumbles thickly, trying to wiggle away from his embrace. "You say you won't leave. But it doesn't matter. It's never mattered."_

"_It matters now," Fang says. _

"_Why?" she asks, pulling away from him. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve then sees his ring glinting. "Somehow, you expect this promise to hold more weight than the first one?" _

"_I won't leave you because it hurts both of us when I do it. And nothing could ever pull me away from you again. Max," he says, "I don't ever want to be without you again."_

_But those were all just words! How could she trust that? How? Especially after what he'd done, and what he was bound to do in the future?_

"_I don't want to either," Max mumbles. "But I…"_

"_When are you going to start _listening _to me?" Fang asks with irritation. _

"_When what you say and what you do don't contradict each other!" she says, conflicted. With a burst of strength, she shoves him away, and he stays away. "I'm tired of guessing! I'm tired of trying to figure you out," Max spits at him in anger. _

"_Then don't guess anymore! Believe me when I say I won't leave, and face the fact that you didn't see everything in the future, just a clip of it!" _

_She looks at him. She's done with this drama. Fang is trying his hardest to make this easy and she _is just not letting him_. _

_But… there's still so much she isn't sure of. It's so hard to convince herself to let go and trust him even though he's given her plenty reasons not too. _

_This is what love is, she guesses. Real love is hard. It's stupid and illogical and unfair and it breaks her heart. But she wants it, and she wants him. So she'll risk it. Again. She'll trust him, even if she shouldn't. Because that is what love is. _

_She's pretty sure she'll always not be sure about him. That scares her, almost as much as giving Fang her heart again scares her. _

_Max hates being in love with him sometimes. _

"_Okay," she whispers, looking up into his eyes. _

_He looks like he's going to yell again, and then he takes a deep breath, looking down at her. "Okay," he sighs. "Okay? You said…"_

_Her mouth silences him. His hands go around her and rest on the small of her back and her arms wrap around his neck. His lips move slowly against hers, and she gasps, pulling him down closer. She knows she's made the right decision, because nothing has ever felt as right as this. She leans against that cave's damp wall and he props himself up in front of her, his hands on either side of her. _

_She decides that Fang won't leave her. They can stop her vision from happening, together. They're stronger than some stupid clip of their future. And Fang loves her. He promises not to leave. So she trusts him. Should she? Who knows? But she does. _

_His hands spread out farther against the wall so he is pressed closer to her, but she is fed up and pulls her mouth away. "Hold _me_, not the wall," she breathes. _

_His arms wrap around her waist tightly and she kisses his mouth again, gently. He pulls her so close that she can barely breathe. _

_This is worth the risk, Max thinks. Their minds and lips are locked together, and they hold each other so tightly, to the point where Max doesn't know where she ends and he begins._

_But maybe there's never been a definite line between them anyways. _

**A/N: So, 80 reviews for another update tomorrow? I'm also working on a oneshot that is set in SOF. Yep, that'll be interesting. **

**REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Oh, goodness. I was sitting there, getting review after review, and I was like, these people are awesome. **

**Um, at the rate I'm updating, this story is going to be over really, really soon. I mean, I was only thinking about like 20-25 chapters overall. We're already on chapter ten!**

I woke up in a new room. It was actually a room this time, not a jail cell. I looked up and saw Fang looking at me, his eyes tired.

No one else was awake yet. I scooted closer to him and whispered quietly, "We don't have much time."

"We need to get out of here, fast," Fang agreed, his face grim.

The door to our room slid open silently and a man I'd never seen before came out. He had thick brown hair and a trimmed mustache, dark eyes, and a long white coat.

He looked straight at me and then at Fang. Without a word, he made his way over to a control box on the wall. Opening it, he pressed a button that made a loud, siren sound. I clutched my ears, wincing. Everyone in the room shot awake.

Nudge glanced at me, fear in her eyes before she shut it down and adopted a determined look. Gazzy shot to his feet, ready to fight. Even Holden looked alert and ready to fight his way out of anything the white coats threw at him.

I was so proud of them.

The man rattled off numbers, and I realized it was Nudge's code. She looked at me again.

Fang and I instinctively moved between Nudge and the man. He looked at us. "Just a few last-minute tests," he said.

Fang and I didn't say anything, and we didn't budge.

The man stood there, not backing down. He walked over to the wall with the control board and pressed another button, muttering to himself that he couldn't wait to get rid of us.

Then vents on the ceiling started to emit a sickly sweet gas.

• • •

_Another freaking locked door! _

Nudge was tired, but that was the least of her concerns. The Erasers were held back like bulls behind bars, and she knew if she couldn't get past this door they'd be unleashed on her. Within minutes. There were two on either side, growling and teasing her to hurry up before she was a dog treat. One reached out between the bars and grabbed her sleeve. She swatted him away.

The earlier door had been hard, but she'd gotten past it just in time.

The whitecoats had waited for her to wake up from the anesthesia-like gas and then dumped her in this maze. The walls were so tall there was barely any light to see down these dark corridors. There were metal doors placed in her way, and they were all locked intricately.

Using her mind powers, Nudge pressed her hand to the door and tried to move anything - a deadbolt, a hinge, anything.

Suddenly a painful shock ran through her mind. Nudge gasped and grabbed her head, letting the electric shock pass before the real horror of the obstacle sunk in.

She couldn't open this door with her mind.

A loud buzzer went off and the cages opened, unleashing four angry, hungry Erasers.

"_Nudge, focus!" Max yelled. "Anticipate your opponent's next move! Stay on your toes! Pay attention!" _

_Fang lunged again but this time Nudge jumped to the side, bringing down her elbow on his back, purposefully an inch from his spine. He jumped away rubbing his back. Maybe an inch to the left and Nudge could've paralyzed him with a hard blow. _

"_Nice," he commented, before shooting forward again. Fang wasn't giving his all into this fight, and Nudge knew that. But he was still a good fighter even when he was just helping Nudge practice. _

"_Find his weakness and go for it," Max commanded from the sidelines. "Everyone has a weakness." _

Fortunately, Nudge knew the Erasers' weaknesses.

She quickly elbowed one in the throat and he choked. Her foot then lashed out against his chest, cracking a few ribs and sending him down. She swung her fist and it cracked against the next one's jaw. She kneed him in the stomach and spun around, sending a strong roundhouse kick into the third one's chest.

The fourth Eraser grabbed her from behind and lifted her as the other advanced, breathing hard. Nudge lifted her feet and slammed them into his chest, then bucked out of the last monster's grip and turned around, decking him, hard. She snapped her foot out to break his knee. He fell and something fell out of his jacket pocket, clinging against the hard, cold floor.

She looked down and felt relief flood through her.

A key.

Spinning towards the doorway and slamming the small metal key into the lock, Nudge felt unstoppable.

Until she entered the next room and saw the rest of the flock fighting off over one hundred Erasers.

• • •

We woke up and Nudge was gone, and I tried to keep the fear out of my mind. Everyone else was here, I realized, but I counted heads twice more before settling back against the wall.

We were seriously running out of ways to entertain ourselves.

Gazzy was taken next, this time dragged out by Erasers rather than knocked out.

_Don't worry, Max. They're just doing more tests. It's not time yet. _Angel's thoughts, even though they were way beyond what her maturity level should have to be, calmed me down.

But then Holden went. Dylan. Iggy. Maya. Angel.

And it was just Fang and I. He sat against one wall, and I sat on the other across from him.

There were a lot of things Fang and I should've talked about. A lot. But now just wasn't the time to talk through our issues.

Fang seemed to not exactly agree on this.

"Max."

I sighed. "No."

"Max, we really need to talk."

You got that right, mister.

"Well? Then why aren't we?"

"Because," I said, and then didn't follow up on why. Because there was no better reason than _I don't want to. _

"Max, we keep pushing everything off, and sooner or later we'll have to talk-"

"We do have a lot to talk about, Fang. But how much of it matters _right now_? While we're in actual trouble? While we're about to die? Is any of it really that important?" I hadn't meant to snap at him, but after all the confusion between the two of us right now, it felt really good to explode like that. Fang glared at me.

"I think it is," Fang said. "But maybe I'm the only one who wants to know what the hell is going on!"

"If you're so concerned about understanding what's going on, then why are you being so damn confusing? I mean honestly, Fang-"

"304 and 307. Follow us," a deep, raspy voice ordered. I snapped out of my rant and glared at the Erasers at the door.

Well they chose a wonderful time to interrupt. As Fang leaned back against the wall and watched me take my anger out on them for being disgusting dog-breath murderers, one of them walked over to the button on the wall and we were gassed unconscious once more.

• • •

"It is truly remarkable," a woman's voice said as I snapped into consciousness. I tried to stretch, then noticed that I was in a chair, strapped in.

"The two of you became an incredibly compatible match without any consideration on our part. Did you know that it was actually a mistake that you two were stored right next to each other? By the time the mistake was realized, you two were linked by some…invisible bond. Remarkable."

The woman was standing somewhere behind me, so I had no idea what she looked like. But her voice was cold and amused.

"Batchelder insisted on testing out a new program, and now here you are, mutating like crazy with no idea what to do with yourselves. But, fortunately, _we _know what to do."

She leaned down from behind me, breathing in my ear harshly when she spat, "Let's see how much you can take before you lose it."

I looked forward, my teeth clenched, and the dark wall in front of me suddenly turned out to not be a wall at all. It's a window. And when the lights flicked on in the room in front of me, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Fang was there, strapped to a chair with small plastic circles stuck to his skin. Everywhere.

No.

_No_.

This had happened once, before. When Fang and I were young. We'd failed a test, and I'd been locked in a chair like that, with plastic circles stuck to my skin just like there were on him now. I had been electrocuted so much and it had been so painful that I hadn't been able to speak or move for days. Fang had been forced to watch.

We were both still traumatized by that near death experience.

I suddenly felt sick about having yelled at him. God, why couldn't I be in there instead? Why couldn't they be torturing me? Why him?

I didn't start seriously panicking until Fang's first yell of pain. It was followed by hard panting and a few choice expletives.

And I started struggling against my restraints when he started having trouble catching his breath.

"Stop it! NO!" He was zapped again, and I could tell it was harder this time. His pain was so intense that I felt it too, and I doubled over, gasping.

"Interesting," the woman said, finally moving into my view. It was the same woman who'd ordered for us to be sent here for extermination. She was wearing a white coat and her bright red hair was tied up in a bun. She held a small remote in her hand. She smiled at me and started scribbling notes.

"What do you want from me? How can I stop it?"

"That's the beautiful part," she said. "You can't. This is your fault for getting distracted. Your fault for forming that bond. You feel what he feels. You feel _the agony _he feels, and it makes you weak. _You are weak_."

I knew he couldn't handle it. I felt what he was feeling. He doubled over in his chair and vomited, and I almost got sick myself.

"Please don't hurt him!" I said, struggling against my chair. "Please!"

This time he really cries out in pain. A vein in his forehead is strained, and he's covered in sweat. He's in so much pain. I can't stand it. I have to stop it somehow.

_You feel what he feels._

This, of course, was new to me. I mean, Jesus Christ, how many more powers were we going to get?

But at the same time, I knew it was true. Fang was feeling such intense agony and I had felt it, too. How the hell was this supposed to come in handy? If he was shot, would I feel a bullet wound?

Or, was it just emotional? I wasn't sure. It was really hard to be sure of anything right now, with Fang right before me, being tortured out of his mind. How would this new power help me _save _him?

Then I realized, if I can feel what he feels…

Did that mean he could feel what I felt, too?

I close my eyes.

I tried to think. I tried to summon some powerful, strong memory - obviously I had _one_?

But in my moment of desperation, I couldn't think of anything. Because I'd never felt as helpless as I was right then.

Fang's next exclamation of pain made me want to cry. I forced myself to focus. I was strong. Strong enough to break my restraints. Strong enough to save Fang. Strong enough to save myself and the flock from anything this hellhole tries to throw at us.

Fang had always had my back. Always. Even when he wasn't there, even when I hated his guts, he didn't give up on me. How does someone do that? How does someone commit so completely to someone else? Especially someone like me who has so many flaws.

The strength of mine and Fang's relationship was probably the strongest thing I'd ever known, I realized. We'd always been strong apart. We'd always had our own strengths and our own weaknesses. But together, we were unstoppable.

It's that strength that suddenly overcame me, made me feel invincible. We'd always been a team, in more ways than one. And I had to have his back right now. I had to get him out of this mess.

I could. I had the strength, somewhere. I knew I did. I thought about what I'd have to handle alone if Fang didn't make it through this. I thought about the last electric shock being the last things he ever feels.

My restraints broke.

I stood up, kicked my chair and swiped my sweaty hair out of my face. I grabbed the woman by the throat and slammed her against the wall. She dropped the remote control that had been sending shocks to Fang, and I heard him exhale in relief when the ambush of agony stopped.

I slammed her against the wall again, hearing her head crack painfully against the cement. Her voice was in my head, sneering, _You are weak. _

"We're stronger than you'll ever be," I choked out roughly. I slammed her one more time against the wall, knocking her out.

My rush of strength wasn't over yet, so I was able to yank open the door and run into Fang's room. I almost collapsed when I saw him up close. He was such a mess.

"Fang," I murmured. I quickly untied his arms and gently pulled him out of his chair. We sunk to the ground together and I pulled his head into my lap.

"Fang," I whispered again, pushing his hair back. "I'm so sorry."

I leaned down and pressed my mouth to his forehead, feeling the feverish heat of his skin beneath the sheen of sweat. Obviously he needed something else…

When had I ever felt happy enough to solve this? Happy enough to make him feel better right now?

I thought about the happiest I had ever felt, and the only memories I could conjure were about him; about being with him, holding him, kissing him. I let them fill my mind and my body relaxed. I relived all our dreams, right there in that room with my forehead resting against him.

"I love you," I whispered, entwining my fingers with his. I didn't know if he would be okay. I didn't even know if he would wake up. But I kept reliving our dreams. And I kept talking to him. And I tried to fill myself up with the happiest feeling I could, and I pushed my pain and worry away.

And I kissed him. Hard.

Slowly, his limp hand returned my grip. I kissed him harder, ecstatic that it had actually worked. His other hand held my chin and he pulled away, gasping, "You're smothering me."

I laughed, relief flooding through me. "You scared the hell out of me. Jerk."

Suddenly, his face went blank and his eyes glazed over, in a look I've never seen before.

"Fang?" I leant down, looking at him. What was going on?

"Fang," I shook his shoulders. His hand was limp in mine, and he wasn't moving anymore. But he was breathing, I could feel his pulse.

Finally he blinked, his eyes opening again, this time no longer glazed over and unfocused. I sighed, pulling him up into a sitting position next to me. He could barely sit up, I realized. He was really hurt, and if they tried to make Fang fight in this state I don't think he'd stand a chance.

Fang stared at me, a worried look on his face. He gripped my hand tightly.

"What did you see?" I whispered finally. That was the only explanation. He must've had a vision. And since we were together right now, it probably wasn't a vision of what I was doing in the present.

He'd seen something in the future, and he looked totally shaken by it.

Fang shook his head. "Nothing."

It was definitely something. Something he didn't want me to know.

"Fang," I said firmly, willing him to look at me. But he wouldn't. "_What did you see_?"

I don't know if he would've cracked or not, but before either of us could do anything Erasers burst into the room. I was dragged out by three Erasers and taken down a twisted path through identical-looking corridors. Before we'd left, there had been scientists grabbing Fang and putting him on a gurney.

After about five minutes I was shoved into a door that led into a huge fighting arena.

The ceiling was high. There was another room down on the ground with a huge window for the observing scientists. Except this time, we were all thrown in together. I spotted Maya and Holden being shoved through one door opposite of me. The others entered all around the arena, and we looked around at each other in confusion.

The first thing I did was get in the air. A man on the ground was standing by a control panel with colorful buttons. He lifted a whistle from around his neck and blew into it, creating a sound none of us kids could hear. Then, Erasers starting filing in through doors all around the room. Gazzy jumped into the air with me, and a few Erasers followed him.

Though the Erasers knew how to fly, most of them were locked in hand-to-hand combat on the ground with all of the others, sans Fang. A few Erasers swarmed above me in the air, and a few were at my level. I attacked immediately, constantly checking on the others.

Iggy and Dylan were fighting back to back against almost twenty. Holden was doing hand-to-hand combat alone, but steadily holding his own. Angel was mind controlling at least three Erasers at a time. Maya took off in the air, holding a limp Eraser. Once she got high enough she dropped him and he took down four others.

There were so many of them. I looked for who may need the most help. Suddenly, a door opened to the side and Nudge entered, looking shocked. She launched herself into battle immediately, looking determined and strong.

I swooped down gracefully over the chaos and went to land at her side and help her out, when I saw the whitecoat by the panel push a lever down. Suddenly, a door on the ceiling of the arena opened and something small was dropped through the opening.

"Dylan!" I shouted. His head shot up and I pointed at the object. It was probably a bomb; and if it was, we needed to take cover, fast.

Dylan shot into the air, swerving around Erasers. The object was still falling but Dylan was right behind it, tucking his wings in. His face contorted in confusion, then panic as he must've realized what it was.

"Take cover!" he screamed over the ruckus, and I saw the others dive away from the center of the room. A few seconds later, a loud explosion knocked out about twenty or so Erasers, sending a few flying in other directions.

I stared up into the still-opened door on the roof only to notice that it opened into another room. A room with windows.

Hello?

_Escape route_.

It was about time.

**A/N: Bleh. At the rate I'm going at, this story will be done by next week! Jeez. **

**I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing… Fang's torture scene was going on at the same time Nudge was going through her maze. Make sense? **

**And now Max and Fang can feel each others' emotions and see the future. So, yeah. **

**Review! I want 100 reviews, but I highly doubt that will happen. PROVE ME WRONG and I'll update again verrrrry soon. (cough cough tomorrow!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This is all happening really fast…**

**And that sounds like a "Let's take our relationship a little slower" line, but it's so true! I started this story exactly a week ago and already 100+ reviews! It's incredible! **

**So, I wrote a one-shot last night. I began writing it when **_**Despicable Me **_**("You have got to be pulling on my leg!" Oh, Gru…) started on Disney channel, and I uploaded it as the credits were rolling. So I wrote it in, like, two hours. It kind of sucks, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. It's called **_**His List**_**. **

**[Summary for **_**His List**_**: Fang wanted her. It was stupid and illogical, but he wanted her. Why was he just realizing this now? Fax. During SOF. One-shot.]**

**Goooo read itttttt. **

**Oh, yeah. Guess what. I got an idea for a one-shot (possible two-shot) today in the grocery store. I was on Twitter while I was buying Monster and, well, I got an idea. So, be looking for that. Probably will be put up soon, heck, maybe even tomorrow!**

**Drakefire: Yes, yes it does. My review bribery works very well. I hope everyone else doesn't catch onto me. Thanks for reviewing!**

**black'n'yellow: I figured you'd be weirded out by my "bro" comment…But that's what I call everyone, really. Kind of my term of endearment. Haha! Thanks for reviewing! (Pitch Perfect! Yes!)**

**Sylvanna: I would love to check out your stories! Thanks for reading!**

**Thanks to K.C.47 for being my 100****th**** reviewer! You rock! I can't believe we're at a hundred already! This is great. **

**Seriously, some of you who don't put names and are just "Guest" are such sweethearts! Thank you guys all so much! You're reviews, no matter how anonymous, mean the world to me! **

**Before I ever uploaded this story, I was afraid no one was going to like it. Same with Internet Fiasco. I almost didn't upload this story. Just a day before I uploaded it, I deleted it. Then I went back an hour later and recovered the 150+ page document from my recycle bin. Close one…**

**Here we go, chapter eleven. **

**It's a long one, so get ready. **

**Probably could've worded that one better… no that's what she said jokes, please. **

I figured I had about ten seconds after I attacked the whitecoat in the arena before the Erasers and scientists tried to capture me. If I could knock out the doc and keep the door open long enough, maybe the flock could get out…

"Hey!" I screamed above the noise, and thankfully got most everyone's attention. I pointed upwards wordlessly. The whitecoat noticed my idea and ran towards the control panel, ready to seal the door closed.

So I kicked him, hard in the stomach and he doubled over. I brought my elbow door on his neck and he collapsed. I turned around towards the observation booth holding all the other whitecoats and watched as they all hurried towards the door, staring at me with angered and fearful expressions.

Of course, my flock was way ahead of me. I watched as they ascended into the air. Dylan was hovering by the door, helping them all get through. Iggy was carrying Holden but the others held their own.

I was running out of time. Angel and Nudge still had to get through the door, and even if I could hold off all the Erasers and whitecoats for that long I wouldn't be able to make it. The scientists, to my surprise, were calling off the Erasers and making them back up against the walls of the arena.

Not to my surprise, a man with silver hair was making his way towards the observation area's exit, holding a syringe. That no doubt had my name on it.

Dylan was waiting. I watched as Angel's sneakers disappeared up into the room and then focused on Dylan as he locked eyes with me. He motioned anxiously at the door. _Get your butt up here_, he seemed to be thinking.

But I would never make it. By the time I got in the air, the door would be closed by the whitecoats, who were almost on top of me. I looked at the control panel helplessly.

Without any better plan, I pulled the lever, hard. The handle broke off into my hand.

I gasped in disbelief - _that had worked_? - and wasted no time shooting into the air, right above the doctors' heads. They'd never get the lever up now; I still had the handle in my hand. I shot past Dylan into the room, where the flock had already blocked the door and taken out the one scientist who'd been in there.

Dylan flew up through the trap door and I looked down, hoping to see angry, disappointed whitecoat faces.

Instead I saw them ordering a pack of Erasers to fly up after us.

Of _freaking _course.

I barked at Iggy to come over and help me and we shoved a desk over the small opening in the floor. It wouldn't hold them off for long, but it would buy us a few vital seconds.

"Window, now," I ordered to Angel, Gazzy and Nudge. Iggy, Holden, Maya and I were holding the desk down over the door as Erasers pounded on it.

_Max._

_Fang! Where are you? We're breaking out._

_In our holding room, _Fang thought. _Where are you?_

I had no freaking clue. All I knew was that I had to go get Fang. I bit my lip, looking around at the others who were blocking the door beneath us with me.

I wondered how long it would take me to get to our cell. I thought hard about how our room had looked, then tried to remember anything about the hallway it had been connected to. I remember that each time the door had slid open there had been a long white hallway beyond the door. I tried to think of anything that would help me know which hallway-

My whole body was suddenly shocked. I felt paralyzed, and I stared at the others in complete terror. _What now_? A sharp, twisting ache shot through me.

Then I couldn't feel anything at all. I was suddenly in a state of being where I _had _no being. My body was nowhere. I didn't exist. I was nothing.

In a second, the paralysis was gone and I was standing again, in a white room. And I was staring straight at a sickly looking Fang.

Fang looked at me, stunned. "How the hell did you get here?"

I looked around shakily, feeling as if I were about to pass out.

"I don't…know," I stumbled.

One second I had been in that room with the others, and the next I was standing here, next to Fang.

Had it been a dream? Maybe I had imagined the escape completely.

"Max?"

I looked at Fang helplessly. What had I been doing right before I showed up here? I thought back, my mind aching.

I'd been imagining this very room, every single detail. I'd been thinking about the walls, the door, the clean, white linoleum. Every aspect of the room had formed a detailed picture in my brain. Then I'd suddenly been here.

"Come here," I said tentatively. I reached out and grabbed Fang's hand. He looked at me, still a bit dazed.

"How did you get here?" he asked again.

"Shush!" I said, closing my eyes.

I focused hard imagining the room with the others.

After I'd conjured up every detail about that room, I waited for the ache, the paralysis, the calming state of nothingness.

I felt none of it. I slowly opened my eyes to see Fang staring at me with a bewildered expression. I felt helpless. Panic started to set in as I looked around. Things had been happening to me so much lately that I'd just tried to accept it. But now I didn't understand what was happening, and I felt as if I were losing my mind.

Had I just…transported, or something? I mean, if that's what I had done, why couldn't I do it again?

"We have to get out of here. The others have already escaped," I said.

"There's no way out of here," Fang pointed out. "The door is locked from the outside."

"There's always a way out!" I said indignantly, feeling exhausted and dizzy.

Behind me, I heard the slow, clean whoosh of the door opening.

Fang and I turned to see Jeb and Harrison standing in the doorway.

"That's my girl," Jeb said, trying for a small smile.

I looked at Fang, raising an eyebrow. It didn't take even a second for us to burst out of the door into the clean, white hallway.

"Which way?" I asked softly. Jeb pointed silently to our right and Fang and I took off. Jeb and Harrison followed. Jeb kept directing up through the hallways until we came up across a dead end hall with a doorway. Harrison pushed past us and inserted an I.D. card into the slot. The door unlocked audibly and I burst into the room to find a small office with a computer, a desk, and a bookshelf.

And a whole wall of windows.

"Why?" I asked, turning to look at Jeb.

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

"What-"

"We are on your side, Max," he said hastily, shoving my long-ago confiscated backpack into my arms, then throwing Fang his. "We'll be in touch. Go."

Fang and I didn't need to be told twice. I quickly hefted the window open and I made him go first, so I could swoop down after him if he was too weak to fly right now. He wasn't. He rose up into the air and I followed quickly once I realized he could hold his own. I got as high as I could as soon as I was aloft, just in case we were being shot at. I saw the flock way off in the distance, hovering in the dry air. It was freezing up here, and I had no idea where we were, state-wise. What had the woman said? Something with an M…Montana? Mississippi? Paying attention in Geography class would've really came in handy right about now.

We quickly met up with the others and wasted no time in taking off, wanting to put as much space between us and the lab as possible. We flew west. Iggy was getting tired and Fang was still too weak from the electric torture, so Dylan was carrying Holden.

_Maximum._

I almost dropped out of the air. It had been months since I'd heard from the Voice. The Voice had stopped dropping in around when Fang left…

Jeez, that was like months ago. I mean, look at us. God. With, what, a bazillion powers now? Together again? Or, whatever he and I were. I still wasn't sure, and by now I was wondering if I ever would be. Not to mention our flock had grown from six to nine people in a couple of days. Way more mouths to feed, way more butts to save.

If we can even focus on anything other than the fact that we're practically conjoined twins these days, what with our two-in-one brain power.

_Voice? _Maybe I was wrong and it was just Fang, but this sounded monotone, like the Voice. When Fang spoke in my head, it was always his voice, like he was talking in my ear.

_Find a place to stay for the night. We've got a lot of catching up to do._

Well, alright.

The Voice was right. We needed somewhere to sleep and sort everything else out. Like to make sure everyone was doing alright after that harsh battle. I knew I had my fair share of bruises and cuts.

Plus Fang and I needed to talk. It was long overdue. Like if it were a book the fee would be in the hundreds, overdue.

Yeah.

I ordered the kids to help scout out a place to sleep. I figured it'd be easier to hide from anyone chasing us in a busy place rather than somewhere deserted. We were becoming predictable, which was not a good look for us. Especially when we sported that look in dog cages.

Speaking of cages. That had been _so _close. We'd been days away from being expired. And we were in real danger now. If the kids hadn't understood before how badly the School wanted us out of the picture, I hoped they understood now. I had been hours away from a eulogy. And that's saying something, since I never give up easily.

We'd been out of the game for a long time. Gaining popularity with the outside world, going to school, playing normal…It wasn't right for us. We needed to get this mission out of the way. We just needed to end it. A few months of not running for our lives had left a huge impact, and we needed to get back into shape.

I looked back at Fang, who was on my right. A few days ago, that had been Dylan's spot. I swallowed, refusing to look for him back with the others. Looking back at Fang, I vaguely wondered if he'd been listening to my rant. I hoped he was…I didn't want to have to say it all again. He nodded. He had been listening.

_Do you know where we are? _I heard Fang think. I shook my head; I had no clue.

Just as I was about to land in a small town beneath us for a map to find out where the hell we actually were, I saw bright, familiar lights shining in the far distance.

"Yeah," I called over to him. He raised an eyebrow. "We're in Nevada. And I know where were sleeping tonight."

The others looked up from their conversations or their zoning out to look at me. Fang still didn't get it, so I pointed in the distance to the diamond-shaped sign. Fang eyes flashed with recognition and I shot him a small smile.

"_Vegas_? Are you out of your mind?" Dylan asked harshly, his eyes giving me a piercing look.

Well, it seemed as if Dylan was no longer willing to follow me to the end of the earth and back. Funny how things change like that.

"We need to hide somewhere crowded. Somewhere the whitecoats think we would avoid. They'll look in all the safe, quiet forests first. I doubt they'll check _Vegas _anytime soon," I pointed out.

"We've all got questions," Fang added. "We need a place to regroup and figure things out."

I nodded, knowing that was specifically targeted at me. "Right. And there's a really great hotel right down here with a free continental breakfast. So let's go."

I let myself fall into descent, carefully landing in a deserted alley behind the huge, familiar hotel. The flock landed behind me.

As I started walking around the building to the doors, Iggy grabbed my arm.

"How do you know they've got a continental breakfast?"

That threw me. I opened my mouth to answer then shut it again, thinking. "Fang, you want to take this one?"

Of course he didn't. But I'd already turned all the attention toward him, and now he looked at me over Nudge's head, irritated.

_If your gonna piss everyone off, can't you just leave me out of it?_ He thought.

I ignored that.

"We spent a few nights here once," Fang said briefly.

"I think I would distinctly remember a few nights in _Las Vegas_," Iggy said.

"We as in Fang and I. Come on. It's cold. Let's get inside."

"Um, I'm pretty sure we're in Nevada and it's, like, sixty degrees," Nudge said.

"And since when have you and Fang been to Vegas?" Gazzy asked indignantly. "You're not old enough to gamble."

I sighed. "You would know," I grumbled, pushing the Gasman towards the door. "Go."

We got two rooms right next door to each other. I tried not to notice or worry about how much money we'd been spending recently. Could they be tracking the spending on my credit card? Jeb had told me once upon a time that it was completely safe. Could I even trust him?

The girls and I went into our room and they were out within ten minutes, even Maya. I sat down in a cushiony chair by a small circular table and pulled over a piece of hotel stationary and a pen. I made a list of Fang and my powers.

Gee. I mean, one day we were going to wake up and be attached at the hip, literally. I mean, seriously. How much more of this could I take? I love Fang and all, but he can get, like, hella annoying. And to have him in my head constantly?

Not to mention him seeing what I was doing when I wasn't with him? Awk.

_Well, Voice, I doubt you'd want to help a girl out in a time of great confusion?_

_What have you got for me?_

My eyes widened for a moment, then I sat up a bit straighter. Never has the Voice answered a direct question with a direct answer. I got excited, then told myself not to get my hopes up. I looked down at the list of powers I'd made on hotel stationary, and the last one that said transportation.

_Did I transport today, at the School?_

_Yes, _the Voice answered shortly.

_Then why couldn't I do it after, when I was trying to get Fang and I out of the cell?_

_Because you're new powers are all selective, Max. _

I tapped my fingers on the table for a second, trying to figure it out. _So, I can only transport to wherever Fang is?_

_Exactly. The same thing applies to Fang. _

I pondered this for a minute then decided to get a second opinion. I got up and walked into the other room, seeing the boys all awake and watching TV or playing games or something.

Fang saw me in the doorway and got up. I motioned to the balcony and he and I stepped out.

"So, I have a new power."

"Not surprising," Fang said, stepping closer to me and standing with his back to the glass door.

"Transportation, to wherever you are," I said softly. "You can too. It's what I did today when I appeared in the room."

"Cool," he muttered.

"You don't sound impressed," I said, watching him watch me distractedly.

"Tomorrow's Christmas," he said, pulling me closer. "In fact, it's almost Christmas already." He fished his phone out of his pocket and showed me that it was almost midnight.

"Yeah?" I asked. "What's so special about Christmas?"

"Shut up," he said. "Christmas is a season of giving."

"I'm pretty sure that's Thanksgiving, so nice try," I murmured, blushing, backing up against the railing of the balcony.

He was quiet and pulled me close, tugging my chin up so I was staring into his dark eyes.

"Just…relax, okay? We're going back to your Mom's tomorrow, and we'll celebrate Christmas, and everything is going to be fine. We can focus on the mission and the School and everything later. Just relax."

"You know better than I do that I can't relax right now."

Fang's fingers grazed up and down my arms, and he stared at me.

"Well if I'm relaxed," Fang said, "then you can't help but feel relaxed, too."

_I am anything but relaxed right now, _I thought as Fang's arms wrapped around me. He smirked and tightened his grip on my waist, lifting me up and perching me on the railing.

"There are four boys in there…_watching _us," I reminded him, but still pulled him closer.

"Three," Fang said. "Iggy's blind."

Our mouths caught gently, my arms wrapping around his neck. I sighed as his nose brushed mine and he kissed me slowly, trying to take my mind off of everything, trying to do his best to take me away from the stress of the past few days.

It was comforting and nerve-wracking at the same time, and I felt myself getting dizzy as I struggled to maintain normal breathing habits. His fingers bunched up my shirt inviting the cool air to hit the skin of my back, and he pulled me closer. My legs itched to wrap around him, but I kept them at his sides.

I pulled my mouth away, pushing my forehead to his gently. Fang sighed, closing his eyes, but I stared at him. "Are you okay?"

He shrugged. "I'm always okay."

"I thought I was going to lose you," I said after a few minutes, my throat closing up dangerously.

Fang opened his eyes. He was so close our noses were brushing, and his wide, dark eyes pierced mine. "Never," Fang said. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

I smiled, kissing him again, quickly. "A few more times, just in case."

He grinned, pulling my mouth to his again. And it was seriously perfect.

Then Dylan happened.

The glass door flew open and I snapped away from Fang, almost falling back off the balcony. Who was I supposed to expect other than Dylan himself, his face and ears red and his eyes on fire.

"Max? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Fang stared at me as I pushed him back and jumped down off the ledge. I pushed Fang and Dylan inside and followed them, slamming the door shut behind me. Not only was I pissed that Dylan had to go and ruin my moment alone with Fang, but it also ticked me off that Dylan was acting more angry than I was, which was completely bogus. The kid needed to be set straight, no matter how much it hurt his feelings. I didn't love him and I wouldn't. It was the honest truth, and there was no point in lying to him.

In retrospect, maybe if I hadn't been so incredibly tense when Dylan had interrupted my one moment of peace, I wouldn't have gotten so angry at him. Of course, I _was _tense, so I was pissed.

I looked at him pointedly. "What?"

"Outside," He said.

"It's cold outside," I said, hugging myself as if I'd just been out there freezing my butt off. When truthfully, I'd been unusually warm... "Just talk."

"Outside!" he shouted, this time more forcefully. I glared at him, wondering what his issue was for a moment, then it hit me: he was jealous. I stiffly walked back out onto the patio. Dylan followed me out the door then yanked the curtain closed on the inside before slamming the sliding door shut.

"What's going on, Dylan?" I demanded, cutting all the nonsense.

"Do you understand what your doing?" he asked.

"Would you like to elaborate?" I said testily, crossing my arms.

He raised his arms exasperatedly, his eyes widening. "You…are giving in to him again!"

I raised my eyebrows, testing him.

"I mean, everyone makes stupid decisions sometimes, but look at you! You're not acting like yourself-"

I interrupted him. "You haven't been in this flock for more than _three months_. You're a baby compared to us! The Maximum Ride that you met and fell in love with or whatever was not the real Maximum Ride. You met me when the flock was kicking me out and Angel was going crazy and Fang broke my heart. That was not me. So you, of all people, cannot tell me that I'm not being myself. Got it?"

"What's your issue?"

"My issue is that you don't understand that enough is enough! I don't love you, okay? I…I just can't!" I blurted.

He stared at me, his eyes hard and his face hurt.

We stood there, a foot away from each other, in silence. My arms were still wrapped around myself, and Dylan looked up at the stars, sighing.

I don't think in that moment I realized how much I hurt him. But I did. A lot.

"Fine," he said finally, his voice tight. "But just because you don't love me doesn't mean you have to love him."

"I don't _have _to love anyone, Dylan! He's my best friend! He makes me happy! Do you hate the idea of me being happy with someone else that much?" I cried.

"I hate the idea of _you and Fang _that much!" Dylan shouted. "It tears me apart!"

"Now you know how I've been feeling for the past _month_! All those times when you told me to forget it, to ignore the fact that I was sick with grief, to get over it already…Now you know! You can't just ignore it! It hurts! It's _actual, physical _pain!" I said angrily.

"And he's the one who put you through that actual, physical pain! He broke you! I _tried _to help you! I was there for you the whole time! You pushed me away! The whole time!"

"Maybe because I _blamed you_!"

"Leaving was his decision. I had nothing to do with it!"

I stepped back, almost offended that he would lie to my face about something so serious. Something that had affected me so strongly, something that he knew had torn me up inside. "You convinced him he was putting me in danger. Pushed him to leave."

"You can think whatever you want. He's never lied to you before, so why would you start doubting him now?"

"Shut up," I growled. "_Shut_. _Up_."

We were both saying things we didn't mean, and his anger could have taken him anywhere right then. The look in his eyes was fearsome.

"How many times does he have to leave for you to get the picture? Four? Five? He obviously doesn't want to be here! Stop kidding yourself, Max. _One _of us actually wants to stick around and be with you. And it isn't h-"

I punched him.

**A/N: SO MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS.**

**120 reviews? **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for the awesome reviews! Gotta be quick today, so here it is!**

About five minutes later, I went back into the room, shaking from the cold and all the emotions swirling inside me.

I turned around and shut the door gently, pulling the curtain closed once again. When I turned around, the four boys in the room were staring at me.

"Dylan left," I said simply. Mostly because I just beat him up outside and screamed in his face. You know, the usual.

Gazzy was the first one to speak, tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I said, looking around.

"You know," Holden said carefully. "Uh, thin walls."

I glanced at them, knowing they had all heard my fight with Dylan.

_Fang _had heard.

"Well," I choked out. "I'm going to bed. You guys should get some sleep, too."

They watched me, Fang's gaze the heaviest and most demanding. Begging me to look toward him.

I swallowed, not looking at any of them. "_Now_."

The boys dispersed and I disappeared into the girls room, feeling ridiculously lousy.

Merry Christmas to me.

I laid down on top of the comforter on one of the queen sized beds. Angel was next to me, curled up and out like a light. How long had it been since these kids got decent sleep in real beds?

I sighed, rolling onto my side to face her so I could let my wings out a bit behind me. I refused to go to sleep right now. I was exhausted, but I just didn't want to deal with being completely alone with Fang. I had no idea what he would say. Was he mad about the things Dylan had said? Was he glad I'd stood up for him?

Of course, now that Dylan was long gone, I thought of a million better things I could've said to him. A million alternatives to punching him.

When I socked him, he had just stood there and taken it. I hadn't held back; I'd swung and hit him right in the cheek, hard, and he stood up straight and just looked at me.

If it would've been Fang, he would have hit me back. Or shoved me. Something.

But Dylan just watched me, as if he couldn't believe that I had hit him. I kind of couldn't believe it myself. But how else was I supposed to have shut him up? How?

"You need to go," I said quietly.

He didn't open his mouth to say anything. He just watched me for the longest time, making me incredibly uncomfortable with his strong gaze. Like he was disappointed in me.

"Go, Dylan," I said again. My voice cracked on his name and I'm sure he noticed. He just gritted his teeth and took off.

Groaning, I flopped onto my stomach on the bed. Pressing my face into the pillow, I counted to ten slowly in my head. He didn't leave for good. He'd needed to calm down and think things through. Dylan would be back by tomorrow morning. I knew he would. He just needed to chill.

I turned my head opposite of Angel and saw Nudge and Maya laying in the other bed. Everyone was asleep. I was not. I wondered what Fang was doing, if he was sleeping and wondering why I wasn't in his dream, or if he was listening to my thoughts right now.

I wish I could feel him, as a presence in my mind. Especially when he was eavesdropping on my thoughts. I had always wanted to be able to feel when Angel had entered my head so I wouldn't think embarrassing thoughts. The want has only grown since Fang and I got our powers.

Our powers, which were now growing more than ever. Honestly, if my pride weren't so incredibly stiff, I'd want to sit down with Jeb and have a nice long chat with him and Dr. Harrison and see how many more powers we were going to get. And if they were going to harm us in any way in the future.

I wondered if it was a good thing, these powers. Fang and I had always been really close, really in sync with each other…up until our closeness almost hurt the flock. Then we'd needed to separate from each other. Now we were closer than ever, closer than I ever thought possible. And, for what? How were these powers supposed to help with the mission? Mind reading was only going to cause grief in the long run. As for transportation. That was actually going to suck.

What about seeing the future? So far, I'd only seen a bad thing. What if we kept seeing bad things about our future? I didn't want to know the future, not if it ended like that.

Then I wondered, what had Fang seen? He'd never told me, but he had looked kind of worried about whatever it was. I was actually tempted to get up and go ask him right now, but I decided it could wait.

Tomorrow (actually, later today since it was one AM), we were flying to Mom's and we'd spend Christmas with her and Ella. Fang was right. We could have ourselves a few hours to just enjoy being together and alive, then he and I would _have _to sit down and hash things out. We'd have to.

• • •

"Finally!" Gazzy cried, making a huge, swooping arch. "I hope your Mom made hot cocoa, Max!"

He tucked in his wings, covered his face from the frigid wind, and went into a steep descent.

I looked back. The others were right on my tail. I pulled my jacket up over my nose and squinted, following Gazzy's steep fall to my mom's yard.

"Watch your step," Gazzy called to me. I landed carefully on the icy porch.

It was December twenty-fifth, Christmas Day, and around noon. Snow was still coming down, and we were all freezing our butts off.

Dylan hadn't come back this morning. I'd even pushed off waking up the others for an hour, hoping he'd come back and we could talk about it. But he didn't, and eventually one of Gazzy's _gifts _woke up the boys and so I decided to get the girls up, too.

We'd flown without breaks. The others were tired and many of them had whined half the way, but I hadn't wanted to waste any of our down time eating at fast food restaurants. I didn't know how long it'd be until we saw my mom and Ella again after this, but I didn't want to throw away any family time.

Family time had gotten a lot more important to me, I realized. That probably wasn't a good thing. All these people chasing after me, wanting me dead, put everyone I loved in danger.

Good thing most of them were in danger already.

Ella yanked open the door and squealed, pulling me against her.

"Max!" I laughed lightly, returning the hug. She pulled me inside and let go of me. "You're freezing!"

"Yeah," I said. "Flying in the winter will do that to you."

She hugged everyone else, except for Maya and Holden. She just nodded at them, looking uncomfortable. We all shucked off our coats and shoes and went with her down the hall "Mom, start some cocoa!"

She linked her arm in mine, pulling me along her side. "So, you've got a lot of explaining to do. Good thing mom and I made a batch of Snickerdoodles."

My mother's Snickerdoodles are almost as good as her chocolate chip cookies, just for the record. Not perfect, but close. After mom had sat us all down in the kitchen and given us all warm cookies and cocoa, she and Ella begged us for information. We told them a brief summary of what had happened and that we hadn't gotten time to read the stolen files yet.

"So, how are you guys liking the snow?" Nudge asked. "It doesn't snow much in Arizona, does it?"

"Never," Ella said. "This is the only real snowy Christmas I've ever had. I mean, I've seen the snow on vacations and stuff, but it was never like this at home."

Iggy pulled Ella closer, and she nibbled on a cookie. Mom smiled at us.

"I'm just happy you guys are home."

"We ran into a few obstacles," I said vaguely. "But we got out in one piece."

"Yeah, I was going to ask about that," Ella said. "Where's Dylan?"

I took a long drink of hot cocoa that burned my throat, forcing myself not to react. Fang cut in from beside me and explained bluntly, "He decided to go his own way."

Ella's mouth formed an O and she glanced at me, noticing that was a tender subject.

"Fang and I have new powers," I said, changing the subject as best I could.

"More?" Ella asked. "Jeez, how many is that now? Like, ten?"

"Five," I said, grinning at her. "But still, it's a lot, right?"

Ella nodded. Mom looked between Fang and I. "What are they?"

"Premonitions and transportation," Fang said.

"Premonitions?" Ella asked. "What's that like?"

"Really weird," I smiled at her. "We see things in the future, but in the visions, we're each other. So I saw a clip of the future and I was in Fang's point of view. It was odd."

"What'd you see?"

I shut down my smile. I broke my cookie in half. It no longer looked appetizing.

"Nothing important," I said softly.

And now I was back to keeping secrets. Awesome.

I think everyone could tell it was something I didn't want to share, so I cleared my throat and stood up. Glancing at the clock on the wall, we'd been talking and eating for two hours.

"Well, we wanted to let you know we were okay," I said finally.

"No, Max!" Ella said, her face serious. "I know what you're going to say. Sit down."

I gave her a look. "We can't stay. It's too dangerous."

"But it's Christmas!" she pleaded. "There's plenty of room for all of you, and…well, you just got here."

I glanced at Fang, knowing this was ultimately my decision. We could stay and put Mom and Ella in danger, or we could take off and hit another hotel. If we had to leave, we'd have to go south to avoid the weather.

"I really would like to catch up," Mom said, squeezing my hand. "Ella's right. You should not be sleeping in the forest and scrounging for food on Christmas."

"We can stay one night," I said finally, and the table erupted in cheers. Everyone dispersed after that, either to go find their rooms or show Holden and Maya the house or something.

Mom and I stayed. I gulped the rest of my hot cocoa and looked up.

"Is there something I need to know?" Mom asked softly, putting her hand on mine.

I wasn't sure what she wanted to know. That Fang and I were together now? That I'd kicked Dylan out? That Fang might leave me again?

I looked at her. "Specifically…?"

Mom looked down at our hands. Her fingers moved aside to reveal Fang's ring, still on my left ring finger. I looked up at her.

"Um," I said finally, feeling as if my face were on fire. "No."

"No?" Mom asked.

"I-I don't think there's anything important you need to know. Not yet," I stuttered, elaborating.

"I'm confused," Mom said, smiling lightly at me. "Is that not important?" She pointed at it. Oh, God.

I groaned, letting my head fall and hit the table, harder than I'd imagined. "Ow," I mumbled.

"…Max?"

"I don't _know_, Mom! I don't know," I said all of the sudden. I looked up at her helplessly. I lowered my voice, leaning forward. "He is _so freaking confusing_."

She smiled. "Just, know that you can always talk to me. Okay?"

I nodded.

As I left the kitchen, someone's arms wrapped around me and pulled me against someone else. I gasped and looked up.

"Okay," I said, pushing him off. "Just because we are now creepily connected with our minds doesn't mean I don't deserve privacy. Got it?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping," Fang said earnestly, looking down at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Why? Were you talking about me?"

"Yeah," I said, deciding to play with him. "We were."

"What about?" Fang asked. He and I started moving up the stairs, him right behind me.

"Nothing," I said in a sing-song voice. I sprinted down the hall into my room and flopped down onto my bed.

He followed, almost landing on me. I laughed, pushing on him. Jeez, he was like dead weight.

"Fang, get _off_!" I choked out through my laughter. "I can't breathe!"

He rolled to lay by my side.

"Fang?"

He turned his head to look at me, his eyes landing on my face. I looked back at him.

"What did you see?"

"Don't worry about it, Max," he said lowly, turning his head up to stare at my ceiling.

"No," I said, shaking my head. I rolled over on top of him and hovering over his face, making him look at me. "No, I'm going to worry about it. Tell me."

He pulled his arms around me, pulling me down to crash on his chest. I huffed, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

"Now shush," he said, closing his eyes.

This is how he's going to deal with this problem? No!

"Fang," I struggled, but his arms were like a vise around me. "Tell me," I whispered, letting my head fall onto his shoulder.

He didn't talk for a long time, and for a minute I thought he may have actually fallen asleep. But his grip was still firm around me. I laid with him for a while in complete silence, hoping that maybe he'd tell me.

"No matter what happens," Fang said softly in my ear, "we're going to be okay."

And that just assured me that whatever he saw was _not _okay. By any means.

Before I can respond, Nudge and Gazzy burst into my room, demanding their files.

I sighed, and Fang let go of me. I gave him a long, meaningful look, then followed the others downstairs.

A few minutes later, everyone was reading their own information. Maya and I split up Dr. Harrison's file, and Holden and Fang were reading Jeb's. Ella read Iggy's to him softly under her breath, and he helped her pronounce the long, scientific words.

The two of them had been attached at the hip ever since we got to Mom's. I felt kind of bad for them, having to be apart all the time. But, that just made their time together better, I guess. And I knew, even though Iggy didn't want to be away from her, he agreed with us having to leave. If anything ever happened to Ella, he wouldn't forgive himself.

"Hey!" Gazzy said, sitting up. "It says my birthday is September fifth! My actual birthday!"

I smiled at him. Nudge started looking for her birthday, too.

"Anything, guys?" I asked.

"Everything in here is stuff we already knew," Fang said, flipping through Jeb's pages.

"He told me before we left he was on our side, but I don't know what to believe. He always does that. He helps us, then lies to us, making his motives all screwed up and unclear."

"You did know he was your dad, right?" Holden said.

"Unfortunately," I sighed.

"Dr. Harrison's file says that he's been the most dedicated scientist in charge of your tests since you were created," Maya read.

"Yeah," I muttered sarcastically. "Remember how he's 'always been helping us'?"

Fang nodded in agreement. "He's a lying cheat. But what's new about that? They're all the same, they're all evil."

"You did know he was your dad, right?" Maya asked, perfectly imitating Holden's question.

"No, I've only got _one _evil father and that's Jeb," I said quietly, turning to the next page in the file.

But Maya wasn't looking at me.

She was looking at Fang.

**A/N: Hmmm… 130 reviews! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay, it could be worse! I could give you a cliffhanger and then not update for weeks! **

**But, you're right. I have cliffhangers every other chapter, just about. I'm so cruel. No worries, though. This chapter isn't a cliffy. It's just sad. And short. SO Short. But I'm updating again soon, so chill, peeps. **

**Read on!**

The whole room was silenced. The kids who were looking through their own files quit reading out random facts about themselves, and the shuffling of the papers ceased. Ella stopped in mid-sentence.

I looked tentatively at Fang, worried he might explode. Or worse, completely shut down, shut me out. His eyes were wide with surprise, which meant he really hadn't expected anything like that to come out of Maya's mouth.

I reached for the paper in Maya hand and scanned it quickly, until I saw what she'd been reading. The weird thing was, it made _sense_. He and Jeb were in charge of our experiment - of course they would've wanted to be as involved as possible. They wanted to be a part of it. Though Fang looked nothing like Adam Harrison, it was possible his appearance came from his mom, whoever she was. And Fang had said that Harrison had given him a pep talk before our fight, which was odd since most scientists usually kept their distance.

I looked up at Fang, who was staring at me for confirmation.

"Fang…" I trailed off softly. What could I say? What was there possibly left to say in a situation like this? Fang had just found out who his father was…and it was the worst scenario of all. His father had put us in cages.

Fang made it to his feet in seconds and stalked out of the room, pulling his jacket off the coat rack and shoving his arms into the sleeves.

Fang yanked open the door and stepped out onto the porch.

"Fang!"

Fang didn't turn around to see me. He stepped into the fresh snow, and each time I heard his feet crunch against the covered ground, my heart broke a little bit more.

"Fang! Stop!" I called. I ran out after him, in just my shorts and tank top. It was freezing, and it had started to snow again. He slowly turned to look at me. I knew what was coming, and as much as I didn't want to, I started to cry like a freaking baby.

We'd been through _so much _in these past few days. So much it was insane. Neither of us really knew what to focus on first. And it was quickly becoming overwhelming.

"You promised," I choked out, calling above the howling wind, "never to leave me again."

"I need to think," was Fang's monotone response.

Oh, God, oh, God… He was shutting me out. I just wished he would talk to me. Not leave. Not shut down and block me. I needed him to talk to me.

I stepped forward off the porch, moving closer, motioning to the door. "Come think inside. Please, just don't go anywhere."

"It's hard," Fang answered. "So much had changed."

It was my vision. Right now, happening before my eyes, and the worst part was I couldn't stop it. I couldn't do anything but watch it happen.

I felt sick just then. Everything that was unfolding right here before my eyes made my stomach flop dangerously, as if I might empty it right then, right there. My feet were numb, the snow soaking in through my socks. My hands were freezing and I was shaking.

"What, so…Now that it's gotten hard on you, you're just going to skip out?" I accused. "Now that it's not coming easily-"

"It's never come easily for me!" Fang said, looking like he wanted to rip his hair out. "But I'm trying to figure it out, trying not to worry about you…and them…Max, and I can't…"

Can't what? I feel my heart clench. I didn't know what to say. I just had to keep him here. I had to. I couldn't lose him. Not now.

"Fang, don't you get it? We're going through the same thing!" I cried. "_Talk to me_!"

But he turned away anyways, and I felt like I'd just been kicked in the stomach.

"Fang!"

"What?" he yelled, turning around. His hands went up to his hair and he looked at me with a desperate look. Desperate to get away. "What do you want me to say? There is nothing left to say!"

I moved back, shocked. I opened my mouth, but he plowed on.

"You know what, Max? I've dealt with a lot of crap this week. Dylan, the School, my so-called father…and you. And if I need to get away for a while to think things through, you should just _leave me the hell alone_!"

He hadn't snapped at me like that for a long time.

I wiped at the tears on my face helplessly and watched as he took off from where he stood in the yard and flew off.

Somehow I made it inside, even though I couldn't feel my body. I glanced around the living room, where everyone was sitting quietly.

"Sweetheart," Mom said gently, but I moved away from her, swiping angrily at my tears.

Why was I crying?

I just totally hated everything right then. I just wanted to forget him, forget his dumbass promises. I felt like flying after him and chucking my right in his face. Maybe that would make me feel better.

"Bed! Now!" I shouted, because I had maybe two seconds before I fell apart completely, and that was not something I wanted them to witness. I watched them all rush up the stairs through my blurry vision. I heard someone in the kitchen and turned to see who it was as Ella disappeared into her room. Iggy was left, and he was making something in the toaster. Right now? He chose now to make toast? Right now while my entire world seemed to be falling apart?

I stared in his direction in disbelief, sniffling and hiccupping. He ignored me and didn't say a word. Seriously? I mean, I always knew Iggy was a tad bit insensitive, and he was kind of oblivious when it came to someone else's feelings…but really? Nothing?

A minute later, he set the toast down on the counter and brought out a jar of jam from the fridge. Silently, he sat down at the counter.

I didn't say a word. Iggy had probably heard the entire thing - let's face it, everyone had heard at least some of our little fallout - and so I just sniffled and sat down next to him, putting my head in my hands. I was shaking and having trouble catching my breath, and I'm sure he noticed. He grabbed a piece of toast and smeared some jam on it, sliding it to me.

"Eat," he commanded gently. I took the toast from him and bit off a piece, chewing for the longest time before thickly trying to swallow it. I couldn't feel my fingers or my toes, and my cheeks were burning. My eyes stung. My heart was constricting in my chest and I tried to think.

"He'll be back by the time you wake up tomorrow, Max," Iggy said quietly. "Imagine how he feels. You, of all of us, know what he's going through."

I didn't have to imagine. I knew how it felt to have your father turn out to be evil. My father was Jeb, for God's sake! _Jeb_! Jeb, who'd sold us out more times than I could count. Who'd almost killed us a million times. Jeb, who had never told me the truth straight to my face, except when he revealed that he, the one man I hated most, was my dad.

That sucked.

Now Fang was going through the same thing. But why did he feel the need to run off? I had experienced the same exact thing. Why did he think I wouldn't understand? Why did he think no one knew what he was going through?

If there was anyone in the world he should confide in, it should be me.

And he'd chosen to break his promise instead.

"He promised," I mumbled thickly. "I told him this was my vision, I told him he'd leave me again, and he promised he wouldn't."

"He's not thinking clearly," Iggy excused. But there was no excuse. I'd trusted him. Again. He'd broken his promise. _Again_.

That was one particular rut I did not want to fall into.

I picked at my toast. Iggy tapped his fingernails on the counter patiently, waiting for something.

"It isn't fair," I said, swiping the back of my hand under my nose. Then I reached for a tissue to clean up the mess that my face was becoming.

I don't say that a lot. It isn't fair, though. Not at all. It's never been fair for us. Sure, I think it; practically every day of my life I think about how unfair it is. But I don't admit it. I'm Max, and I should be able to handle it.

But it isn't fair. None of us deserve this.

He nodded. "Yeah, it isn't."

Iggy and I finished the entire plate of toast together in silence, and when I finished, I propped my head up in my hands. I had finally calmed down. Iggy sat next to me in comfortable silence.

"Iggy?"

He didn't answer. Just looked at me.

"Don't ever do this to Ella," I whispered.

"I won't," Iggy said. "I won't, Max."

I nodded, content with his answer. If only Fang could have Iggy's common sense.

Oh, God. Never thought I'd think that.

I left Iggy sitting in the kitchen and walked into the guest room where the girls were sleeping. Maya was on the ground on a blowup mattress and Angel and Nudge were sharing the bed.

I leant over Angel, who was already asleep, and kissed her forehead. I went over and kissed Nudge's too and brought the blanket up to their chins. I was about to leave when Nudge whispered, "I'm sorry, Max."

"It's okay, sweetie," I breathed, shutting the door. _I'm used to it, anyways_.

And it was terrible, but it was true. I was used to Fang leaving. I was used to being let down. It wasn't fair.

When he came back, if he came back…I'd take him right back. I knew I would. Because that's what I do. What I always, always do.

And maybe I shouldn't. But I do.

In my room, I numbly changed into sweatpants and a tank top. I crawled under the covers of my bed and curled up.

I forgot about Fang long enough to get to sleep.

**A/N: You know the drill. At least ten more reviews, friends.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I update too much.**

Since _unpleasant _describes my entire life, it only made sense that the next morning was uncomfortable and somber. Fang came back some time after lunch, around three, but he didn't look frozen and he didn't have icicles hanging off his limbs, so I concluded he had either flown far enough away that he didn't die of below freezing weather, or he'd gotten a hotel room.

He ignored all of us as he walked in, kicked off his boots, and made his way into the kitchen. A few minutes later we could hear the sound of the coffee maker whizzing.

He uttered not a word _again _as he walked through the living room, past all of us, and up the stairs.

"Asshole," I mumbled as his bedroom door closed. Angel, who was playing double solitaire with Gazzy, glanced up at me before going back to her game.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, walking towards the stairs. I stood outside Fang's room for a few seconds, wondering whether I should go in and chastise him or not. He'd probably just _leave _again-

_Max, _the Voice cut in. _Now is not the time to fight with him._

_Sorry if my feelings are inconvenient_, I thought snidely.

_The one thing you have is each other, _it continued. I vaguely remembered Fang saying that way back when, back before the flock split up the first time. I shivered.

_Fang's smart, _the Voice said. _No matter how much you deny it, you rely on him and care about what he thinks. _

_I don't care if he-_

_Ignoring him and acting like a child won't get you anywhere._

"So now _I'm _the one ignoring _him_?" I demanded, curling my hands into fists.

"Ignoring who?"

I jumped, spinning around. Speak of the devil. There Fang was, right behind me, walking towards me from the bathroom. His face was closed off and impassive.

"No one," I hissed. "Where have you been? You know what, I don't even care. Just…next time you think about promising me something, don't bother."

He stared at me blankly. As if my words had hit him and bounced right back. Frankly, it was down-right infuriating. And it kind of hurt my feelings.

Giving up, I turned to walk away.

"I _can't _be like him, Max."

His low voice barely whispered it, but I heard it loud and clear. I froze.

I knew without anymore explanation that Fang was talking about his father. I had gone through the same steps of denial and self-loathing when I'd discovered that I shared blood with Jeb.

But…This was Fang. How could he even think there was any slight chance he'd end up like Harrison? How? This was _Fang _we're talking about.

I turned around, facing him. He stood on the complete opposite side of the hallway. His eyes were blank and his face was shut off. But I could just feel that he was upset. I was not sure if that was because of our powers, or if it was just because I loved him and knew him better than I knew anyone. "You are already a million times better than him."

I was about to continue, but he said:

"I don't want to hurt you."

He didn't want to _hurt me_? Then why did he? He did it so damn easily, too. As if it hadn't affected him at all to walk out on me, on all of us. I felt like yelling at him. I felt like making him understand just how much it hurt me to watch him leave. Because he fucking did hurt me, a lot. Constantly.

But it was Fang, standing there before me. And what I should've said or done didn't register. I didn't want him to feel like he did right now. I just wanted him to understand that he wasn't like his evil dad, and he would never be.

"Then don't," I responded. "Don't hurt me."

"He's a bad man, Max," Fang said. "The things he's done…It makes me sick."

"I know," I whispered.

"He led the experiment on Iggy," Fang said monotonously. My breath caught. I _knew _Jeb had nothing to do with that. Jeb had been with me when Iggy had been taken into surgery. But Adam Harrison…

"He made Ari into an Eraser," Fang continued.

My fists clenched. I wondered if Jeb knew that his buddy was the one who put his seven-year-old son in the ground.

"That says nothing about you," I insisted. "Nothing."

"Yes, it does," Fang said.

"What? What does it say about who you are as a person, Fang? I've never seen you intentionally hurt _anyone_. Not unless they were trying to hurt you or one of us. You would never hurt anyone," I said earnestly, stepping closer to him.

"I hurt _you_," Fang said. "I'm so sorry. But I do."

I shook my head. "No, don't. I don't care. That's not important."

"It is important! How can you trust me?" Fang asked.

I stared at him.

"I don't know," I said quietly. "I just do."

"That's stupid," Fang told me.

"Maybe But I do," I said. "You would never intentionally hurt me, I know that. You know that, too."

Fang looked at me. He stepped forward. "I don't deserve you."

I didn't answer. My whole body was buzzing, my heart racing out of my chest. He reached forward and tentatively grabbed my hand, as if he'd never touched me before. He slowly pulled me in, watching my face carefully. I pushed him back, expecting him to collide with the wall, but instead he tumbled through the bathroom door which he'd left open moments ago.

His arms wrapped around me, his leather jacket still cold from the weather. I slipped my arms under his jacket around his waist, feeling his body heat against my arms and chest.

He tilted his head down. It was one of those moments where Fang simply offered himself to me, and it was up to me to take him or not.

"Why do you put me in this position?" I breathed against his mouth. Why did he always do this to me? Always upset me so much and then apologize? Did he know that I could never stay mad at him?

He smiled very lightly, so lightly it was practically not there. But I saw it, just barely.

"Because I like you in this position," Fang murmured, squeezing my waist.

_Not what I meant,_ I thought.

I pushed my mouth against his, my fingers curling into the sides of his shirt. Slowly they drifted upwards and I pushed his jacket off his shoulders, where it fell on the ground almost silently.

_Why do we do this? Why do we put ourselves through this every day? _I thought desperately.

_I don't know…_Fang thought. _So we can do _this _every day?_

I gasped as our mouths pressed harder, his opening against mine. _You're going to be the death of me, Fang_.

He groaned, tugging on my lip. _Oh, God, I hope not_.

He reached down and grabbed my waist, picking me up and setting me on the bathroom counter so we were level with each other. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands moving up the back of my shirt. They roamed my back then pulled away and ran up and down my legs, warming me up, head to toe. I pushed my hands against his stomach under his shirt, my fingers grazing the skin right above his jeans.

He pulled me harder and I caught myself by pressing my hands to his chest. I gasped at our sudden closeness as his lips found my jaw. His hands were still roaming my back, tickling the bases of my wings. His fingers slipped under the clasp of my bra and slid around under the fabric to my sides, his thumbs grazing the underwire, sending shivers up my spine.

This time, it wasn't a dream. It was really happening. We didn't have to talk, or say anything. He brought his mouth to my ear and whispered, "I'm sorry."

It was over then. Any argument we had, any grief we'd caused. Gone. Now it was a moment of complete understanding and connection. Fang and I just _got _each other. It was that simple.

My fingers pushed up his shirt, pressing against his rapid heartbeat. His finger traced the underwire of my bra again, his hips pressing into mine, his lips going everywhere, leaving marks and trails over my skin. One of my hands found its way to his hip and my nails dug into his skin, my fingers barely dipping into the top of his jeans as I struggled to hold him closer. He groaned. His hands traveled up my back under my t-shirt, dangerously hovering over my bra clasp.

"Stop," I blurted roughly through my labored breathing, pulling away. Fang's head fell heavily against my shoulder, his heart beating hard under my palm. I came back to reality. We were in the bathroom, for God's sake. With the door _open_.

Fang pulled his head up to look at me.

I pulled the ring off my finger suddenly, holding it up between our faces.

He lowered my hand that held the ring and stared at me.

How could I possibly start this conversation? _Hey, remember when you put this ring deliberately on my left ring finger? You do know what that finger means, right? Right? Did you mean it to mean that, you were you just looking for another way to screw with me? _

"Fang?"

"Hmm?"

"What does this mean to you?" I asked.

He took it from me.

"This is it for me," Fang said, looking at me. "_You _are it for me. I just want you to know there will never be anyone else who comes _close _to meaning what you mean to me. And someday…"

Someday everything will fall into place and it will just make sense. Someday there will be nothing standing in the way of us and anything we want to do. Someday, Fang will carry out the promise the ring stands for.

But today, he just slipped the ring back onto my finger and we shared a moment that was just for us.

• • •

"Okay, my turn," I said, pushing Fang out the door of my bedroom. "Go downstairs."

"Which room?" he asked.

"Surprise me," I said, and I closed my eyes.

No, Fang and I were not playing hide and seek. Unfortunately.

I'd told Fang that we needed to see what we could do with our powers, see how easy they were to control. We definitely needed to practice this one.

It was getting easier after a few tries. I closed my eyes and focused. My body went through the same stages as the very first time; the quick shock, the inability to move, the slow ache, the absolute nothingness…

But it lasted only a second this time. When I opened my eyes I was standing with one of my feet in a mop bucket.

"Very funny," I muttered, shoving the dark blackness in front of me. My hands collided with Fang's chest, hard, and he stumbled backwards, falling out of the storage closet. He grabbed my arms to right himself and ended up dragging me down with him.

And because this is my life, everyone sitting in the living room looks up to see Fang and I land in a twisted, entwined mess of limbs. My face smacked against his chin, not to mention my knee found its way…somewhere else.

Fang cursed, pushing me off and rolling over. I laughed, rubbing my forehead.

"That's it," he said after a minute of lying in pain on the ground. "No more training." He glared at me and stood, walking up the stairs.

"Okay," Ella said slowly. "I knew it was weird when Fang went into the storage closet without a word to any of us and didn't come out, but when did you get in there?"

"What were you doing in the closet, anyways?" Gazzy asked, sitting upside down on the couch with his feet hanging off the back. His face was getting red as the blood rushed to his forehead, and his now-overgrown blonde hair hung straight down.

"Practicing our new power," I said, standing up. "Fang and I can teleport. But we can only teleport to each other, so we've been-" I squealed as something poked me in the back and jumped probably three feet in the air. The others started laughing. I spun around.

"Not. Funny," I said, pushing Fang, who had appeared behind me.

"I think it was pretty funny," Maya said, digging in a bag of potato chips that sat between her and Iggy.

"So," Holden said. "What's the next step here?"

That was… a really good question.

I was kind of disappointed that Holden had brought us back to reality so quickly. I sighed, looking around. I didn't have a plan after Mom's, but we definitely had to get out of here before the School sent anyone or anything after us.

I wasn't sure if we should trust Jeb and Adams yet, but they seemed to want the same thing as us - to stop the Institute. My only problem was, where do we start?

Then I looked around at all the others, laying on the couch and pigging out.

"The next step is training. All of us. We need to get back into shape, clean up our fighting techniques. We won't stand a chance unless we condition ourselves for the worst."

Fang looked around the room, then walked over to the TV. He bent down and turned off the television then turned around to look at us all with an unholy grin.

"Maya, Holden," he said, "Welcome to Max's Bootcamp."

**A/N: Review! I want 160! **

**I'll update tomorrow morning before school, if I feel like it. See ya in the morning, guys. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Oh, my gosh, guys. This feels so…surreal. I went back and read a bit of my own story, and I was like…I wrote that? Wow. **

**By the way THANK YOU for all the reviews. Amazing!**

**Okay, now. **

**I'm going to talk about Internet Fiasco for a second. If you don't know, it's another one of my stories on here. The next chapter is the last chapter, and…I'm afraid to upload. **

**I have like three versions written out. **

**I hate all of them. **

**None of them seem good enough! I can't upload unless I'm sure it's perfect, ya know? So yeah. **

**Sorry if your waiting on an Internet Fiasco update. I just want it to be perfect. Don't hate. **

**I **_**love **_**this chapter, by the way. Tell me what you think!**

"I _hate _Max's Bootcamp," Iggy ground out. It must've been kind of hard for him to talk with my boot pressed into his neck. Mutant kid probs. "I hated it when we were thirteen and I hate it now."

I pulled back, then helped him up. He groaned. "Can I be done?"

"Not until you pin me. Come on," I said, backing away from him and getting into my fighting stance.

"Max," Iggy whined. "It's five o'clock."

He was right, of course. We'd been since before sunrise this morning, practicing techniques, running, flying, and teaching Holden the ways of hand-to-hand combat. But he wasn't getting out that easily.

"Yeah, and you'll be here until six unless you pin me. Now, come on."

Iggy glared at me. Fang was sitting up in the tree above us, watching. He'd sent the others inside for dinner. Iggy was second-to-last for sparring. Maya had taken Gazzy out no problem, but Angel had somehow gotten Maya down without mind controlling. Nudge had gotten Angel and Holden had gotten Nudge, so now it was just me, Fang and Iggy.

Fang fought winner.

"Oh, my God," I sighed. "Are you going to make your move or not?"

Iggy moved towards me faster than the speed of light, but I'm just so _good_. I caught his arm and jerked him back, kicking him the side then pulling him roughly into a headlock. I laughed. "You wimp."

Iggy punched me in the stomach, hard, and then reversed out head-lock position, jerking on my hair roughly. "Hair is off limits!" I growled, reaching up to punch him in the side of the head.

Iggy laughed and let me drop out of the headlock, then wrapped his strong arm around my waist and pulled me hard against him. "Nothing," he said, breathing heavy, "is off limits."

Then he wet-willied my ear.

"Ew!" I screeched. I spun out of his arms, scrubbing at my ear. I heard Fang bark with laughter above us. Iggy came forward and I kicked back my foot, sweeping one of his les out from under him. He fell on his butt in the grass.

I tackled him, pushing his shoulders into the ground. I stuck both my pinkies in my mouth and then shoved them in his ears. He squealed like the girl he was, swatting at me. I rolled off, laughing as Fang blew the whistle.

"I'd like to see you try the wet-willy trick on an Eraser, by the way," I said as Iggy pulled himself to his feet.

"Whatever," Iggy said. "Your voice reached pitches only dogs could hear, so it was worth it."

"Right back at 'cha!" I called as he walked into the house.

I sat back on the grass, catching my breath. Fang jumped down out of the tree and landed in a crouch a few feet in front of me.

"Give me a second," I said, holding up one finger.

Fang waited. Then, I pushed myself up to my feet and gave him a look.

"Do were have to do this? We both know how it's going to end," I said. "We know each others moves inside and out."

"True," Fang nodded. "But it's fun."

I nodded. "I guess… Let's just go inside."

Fang started heading for the house, and I walked behind him. When we were right outside the back door, I jumped on him from behind, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

Fang grunted, throwing my forward so I landed on my butt. I growled.

"Oh, just hit me already," Fang teased. "You know you want to."

"You just wish you could pin me," I sneered in response. "Never have, never will."

"Never say never, Max," Fang said with a smirk. I flushed, glaring at him. I was pretty sure he wasn't talking about sparring anymore.

I heard the back door open and saw out of the corner of my eye all the others file out to watch Fang and I.

"When the Gasman blew up the TV back at the E house, this was our entertainment for a week," Nudge whispered to Maya.

"Remember that one time that Fang broke Max's foot?" Angel asked. "That was funny."

"Please. How do you think he got his name? Their first fight in the School ended with his teeth in her shoulder," Iggy mumbled.

I launched myself at Fang, pushing him down to the ground. He was only sitting, but it was a start. I punched him in the stomach. It practically bounced off. Jesus.

I was straddling him, and I brought back my fist to hit him again, this time in the face, but Fang grabbed wrist and brought it behind my back, then rolled forward so I was lying in the grass on my back and he was hovering above me. He pinned my wrists above my head.

"Now Fang, you know how I feel about PDA," I warned.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I won't kiss you yet."

Yet?

Fang's fist came down, hard, and I rolled my head out of the way just in time. I hissed, glaring at him.

"I still have that scar you know," I said. "On my shoulder." Only now it was much smaller since I'd grown since then.

"Hmm…" He bent down, getting closer. "Good."

I rolled us over, which was not an easy task. I pressed my forearm over his chest, keeping his shoulders down. "Why is that _good_?"

"Because," Fang breathed. "It's my mark."

I pushed his head down so the right side of his face was pressed into the ground. I leant down and whispered, "You pig. I'm going to pummel you."

Iggy whooped from the porch. "Come on, Fang!"

Fang's hands came up and shoved my shoulders. I flew off of him and landed a few feet away. I propped myself up on my elbows, growling.

"I'm not afraid to hurt you," I promised. But Fang knew that. We'd given each other countless black eyes, bloody noses. Heck, even broken bones - so many I couldn't count them on fingers alone.

"Babe, you can try," Fang said, jumping to his feet.

"_Babe_? Seriously?" I retorted.

Fang shrugged, then launched himself at me, pinning me against the nearest tree. I reached up before he could restrict my hands and punched him in the jaw. Fang recoiled slightly, and I used that time to crouch down, grab his foot, and pull it up. Fang fell on his back, knocking the breath out of him.

"Are you going to give up?" I asked.

"Do I ever give up?" Fang shot back.

Fang was up and in my face in seconds. His fist slammed into side making me stumble. I pushed on him but he spun around and shoved his elbow into my gut, hard against my ribs. I inhaled sharply, kicking the back of his knee so his leg gave out.

He caught himself, grabbing my wrist and pulling me against his back. Then he flipped me over, using his body to lift mine, and I landed on the ground on my stomach.

"How 'bout you just forfeit?" Fang offered. I rolled over onto my back and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled. I held my hand up for him to help me to my feet.

"Was I born yesterday?" Fang asked. "I'm not stupid. Get up on your own."

I huffed. Too bad he hadn't fallen for that one. Guess I'd have to do it the hard way.

I snapped my foot out and kicked him in the calf, then pulled my leg back to kick him in the same exact place, harder. He lifted his foot so I missed, but I swept my other leg left over his that was planted on the ground and he camp down hard. Right on top of my leg.

"Ow, you've got one fat ass," I grumbled. I jerked my leg out from under him and pulled both my feet back then kicked him forcefully in the chest. Fang's breath left him in a whoosh and he reached forward, his hands wrapping around my ankles. He held my feet still as he got away from me.

"Come on, Max! Whup his butt!" Gazzy called.

"You know I'm going easy on you, right?" Fang asked.

"Please," I laughed. "That's why you're wheezing like a seventy year-old man."

I jumped forward and put all my force into shoving him to the ground. Fang landed hard and I fell on top of him, sitting on his chest. I leaned down, pinning his shoulders.

"Giving up?" I whispered.

"Nah, I just really like you in this position," Fang smirked. Then, before I could even blink, Fang had my on my stomach on the ground, his hand pushing into my back where my wings met my spine and his knees on my hands.

Iggy blew the whistle.

I made an exasperated sound as Mom called us all in for dinner. Fang's weight let up and he pulled me into his lap, breathing heavily in my ear.

"Well, I can't say you've lost your touch," Fang said.

I grinned. "I totally let you pin me," I said.

Fang groaned. "I know."

I knew he was just agreeing to agree. But whatever. It still made my heart skip a beat.

Fang's thumb slipped under the shoulder of my t-shirt and grazed the small indent from his teeth when we were six. He kissed the side of my neck, humming in approval. I dug my fingers into his jeans under his knees, and I turned my head, wanting a real kiss.

I wished things between us weren't so complicated. Imagine a world where Fang and I were perfect and trusting and in love and never fighting…

Yeah, I think that'd be boring, too.

So I let his mouth push against mine for a second, the tension from the few days before erased. I pulled him up and dragged him into the house. The others were all already in the kitchen eating, and Mom gave us one look and told us to go clean up.

After dinner, it was time to figure things out. We'd spent most of the evening yesterday and all day today training, and though I wished we had another day to hone our skills, we couldn't waste more time. Not to mention these kids didn't really need it.

So we had to sit down and think it through. Or, I did. I went through Jeb and Harrison's files once more, then my own to look for anything that might lead us in the right direction. Fang, Iggy, Maya and I stayed up until at least ten trying to figure it out.

Finally I decided that we would leave early the next morning, flying somewhere southeast of here. Texas? Maybe Florida, even. I wasn't sure. But I had come up with something, and that was enough for me to fall into my leader position and send them all to bed, warning them I'd wake them up bright and early the next morning.

Once I'd checked to make sure everyone was in their respectable bed - because I'd let it slip a few times in the past for Iggy and Ella, but not anymore - I went down the hall and got in the shower, discarding my clothes in a pile on the floor while the water warmed up.

After a twenty minute shower, I turned the water off reluctantly. The mirrors were already fogged up and the room was humid. Not three seconds after I'd shut the water off, the door knob jiggled.

"Occupied," I said, wringing my hair out.

"Unlock the door," came Fang's low, deliberate voice, careful not to disturb the others down the hall.

"No," I said, reaching out for my towel on the rack. "I'll make it quick."

"Max, I'm not going to wait thirty minutes."

Pfft. As if I was ever given the luxury of thirty minutes in the bathroom for a shower. Whatever.

"You're not coming in," I insisted. I thought of my bra that was hanging on the back knob of the door, and the rest of my clothes piled on the floor. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't even done drying off yet.

I used the end of the towel to dry my face, letting the rest of it hang down the front of my body.

When I took the towel down from my face, I screamed.

There was Fang, standing in the shower with me, seeming to be still recovering from the effects of transporting.

"What the hell!" I shouted, quickly pulling the towel to myself. I couldn't properly wrap it around my body without giving him a view, and so I resorted to pushing my back against the wall and holding the towel between us. "What are you doing? Stop! Close your eyes! Get out!"

Fang thought it was hilarious, and he was probably tucking away the knowledge for future use. I mean, now he knew what would happen if he ever transported to me while I was _in the freaking shower_.

"What the hell were you thinking, you pervert! Get out!" He stepped out of the shower carefully, his socks wet. I yanked the curtain closed roughly once he had stepped out, which caused the rod that held up the curtain to fall, clattering to the ground between us.

"Of course," I muttered, staring up at the ceiling. "This is my life."

To make it worse, someone knocked on the door. I _thought _everyone had been asleep. The doorknob jiggled and I heard Iggy call, "I have to pee!"

"In here!" I shouted.

At the same time Fang said, "Not now, Iggy!"

I glared at him. I mean, _seriously_.

It was _Iggy_, for God's sake. The one teenager in this house who would jump to conclusions.

"Gross, gross, totally didn't need to know," Iggy said from beyond the door. "Fang just do your thing, man. I'll pee outside."

_Oh, how thoughtful of him!_ I thought sarcastically. Fang snorted.

"Iggy, you asshole! Nothing's going on!" I called.

"Uh-huh," he replied. I glared at Fang.

Fang laughed shamelessly, turning around. I quickly wrapped the towel around my body securely and stepped out of the shower, grabbing his shoulder. I yanked the door open and marched him down the hall toward my room, past a grossed-out looking Iggy. I would deal with him later.

"What was _so _important?" I challenged angrily, kicking my door shut.

"Our mission," Fang said. "Well, you're mission, technically."

I bit my lip for a second then pointed to my bed.

"Well, okay, if you insist," he mumbled, and started pulling back my covers.

I rolled my eyes. "Avert your _eyes_."

Fang smirked and sat on my bed facing away from me. I quickly got dressed and pulled my hair back away from my face haphazardly with a hair tie.

He turned to face me when I was done.

"I think I know where the Itex Corporation is."

**A/N: It's just so HARD not to give you guys cliffhangers! Ha! **

**So, I was supposed to write a research paper for school…yeah, like that happened. Pfft. **

**Anyways, this chapter was kind of comedic relief/filler, with a little cliffy at the end. Hope you liked it! Review! At least ten more, peeps. **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: You guys are so chill. **

**Okay, so I've gotten multiple PMs and reviews with people telling me that this feels like it could've been one of the books. Dude, I wish it would've. The last books sucked. **

**No offense to JP. Sorry, not sorry. **

**Thank you, if you just accidentally stumbled upon my story and liked it. Thanks for giving it a chance. And if you read it because you've read my other stories, I applaud you for still wanting to see some of my other work! Thanks for all the faith, guys!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT. **

So, Fang thought he'd figured out the puzzle that was our life.

Suddenly, he knew how to save the world.

Still not a good enough reason to pop in on my shower.

Just saying.

Still not sure why this had to interrupt my shower time (and my personal space, ahem), I walked over to my bed and sat down next to him. He knew? Just, out of nowhere, he knew where the head of the entire Itex Corporation was? Had he been sitting on this for a long time, or had he just suddenly had an epiphany?

"Remember when we had to fight each other at that lab?"

_No, I forgot_. Duh, I remembered. Jeez, it was only, like, four days ago. Or something like that. Time was pretty stretchy these days.

"Yeah?" What did our fight have anything to do with the head of Itex?

Fang gave me a look that said, _I'm getting there, quit being so impatient._

I held my hands up in surrender.

"Harrison…was talking to me before I went in," he said slowly. "He said something weird about light. I don't remember what it was, but he repeated it to me, as if it were really important."

I raised an eyebrow. Okaaay. I still was not getting how this connected back to the mission.

"At first I thought…I don't know, I thought he meant that to be a metaphor. Like, now that we were all back together, shit was really going to start hitting the fan. I thought he meant that because I came back bad things were going to happen to us. That's why I've been thinking so hard about it ever since."

I grabbed his hand, wanting to comfort him somehow, seeing his inner conflict. I also kind of wanted to distract him from thinking about leaving again. Because, that's what this sounded like, and I'm selfish. My eyes scanned his face nervously. Fang squeezed my hand, telling me silently to stop freaking out about him leaving.

"Sorry. So, something fortune cookie-y about light being a bad thing…" I trailed off. Fang gave me a look.

"Will you just let me explain?" he asked in exasperation.

"You sound insane," I said quietly. "You know that, right? Are you sure-"

"I was on the blog tonight," Fang said, ignoring me. I huffed.

He reached up to scratch his head with his other hand. "Someone emailed me saying that ever since they started reading my blog, they've noticed that this secluded part of their town was gated off from the people and looked really secretive."

"Okay?" I said, still not getting it.

"The only thing they knows about the building is it's name," he said, staring at me. "The Leading Institution of Genetic Hybrids and Technologies'."

Realization dawned on my face. "L.I.G.H.T."

"I started doing all this research, and, well…come see this."

I followed Fang to his bedroom, my mind whirling with the possibilities. What if this was it? We could be so close right now…

We sat down on his bed and Fang started typing quickly on his keyboard.

"The website is blocked by all sorts of government locks and protection walls, but what I could find out about the facility is that its probably our best bet. There's this informational site that talks about L.I.G.H.T.'s goals and all that…it says that the corporation's main ambition is to create a 'perfect world of healthy and advanced human beings'."

"_Human _being the operative word," I mumbled. "Did Harrison or Jeb ever-"

"Harrison's first job with Itex was at the L.I.G.H.T. Institute," Fang said sourly. "Said so in his file. Too bad we didn't catch _that _one sooner."

"So do you think this could really be it?" I asked, leaning over his shoulder to read the screen. "The head of the entire Itex corporation? The head of the hydra?"

"Max…" Fang trailed off. He turned to look at me. "I don't know."

But I did know. This was it. It had to be.

"I could kiss you right now," I said.

Fang smirked. "That's why I made all this up."

"Not funny," I said. "Fang, we're so close."

"Trust me, I know," Fang murmured, leaning closer.

"No, not _us_," I whispered. "Seriously. This could be the end of it all."

"I know, Max, it's just…"

I stared at him, and he refused to make eye contact. I touched his hand but he still didn't respond to my touch.

"Is this…about your vision?" I asked nervously.

Fang didn't answer. I felt sick to my stomach. What had he seen that was so bad? Bad enough that he wouldn't tell me? I tried searching his mind for it, but he was blocking me. Blocking me and lying to me, over a _stupid damn vision_. I wanted to cry, it was so frustrating.

"Why can't you tell me?" I demanded, standing up.

"It's not important," Fang said, and still he avoided looking at me.

"Bull," I said, my voice shaking. The more he didn't tell me, the more I imagined what could possibly be so bad. Fang and I talked about _everything_. I mean, yeah, we push it off sometimes until the last possible minute, but…eventually, we confide in each other. We trust each other, we depend on each other, we need advice and point of view from one another. What was he not able to tell me about? "Fang, you have to tell me the truth. Should we even risk it, checking into this place? Does someone get hurt? Does someone not make it out?"

"Max," Fang said. He stood up and grabbed my arms, his hands dragging down to meet mine. He twisted our fingers together, but mine stayed limp. He leaned forward, but I tossed my head to the side. Fang sighed and unlinked one of our hands, then gently pulled my chinup so I was glaring up at him.

"Max," he whispered again. He leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine, but I didn't kiss him back. My hands were clamming up. My heart was going crazy in my chest, and Fang pulled me in, dropping my other hand so his arms could snake around my waist. I reached up and put my hand on his cheek, slowly responding to his mouth. Why, all of the sudden, did he seem so desperate?

I put my arms around him, and that seemed to encourage him. He lifted me and set me on his bed, slowly pushing me onto my back.

_Fang, you can't just…kiss your way out of this. Not this time. _

Fang sucked on my bottom lip, holding me to his body. _I can try. _

It took all of my strength to pull away from him carefully, breaking the kiss.

_What aren't you telling me? _I thought.

Fang closed his eyes as he leaned over me, his breath splashing across my face. We stayed like that for awhile, half laying down, half sitting up. I stared at him and willed him to tell me, to let me in. I needed to know.

He stood up, pulling me up with him. He brushed my hair back, kissing my head. "You, the others…I promise, you'll all be fine. I'll be back, okay?"

Then he turned and hefted his window open, jumping out and taking off.

Well, he just pulled a Max. Running away from his issues.

It really sucked when someone used my move against me.

I turned around and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. We'd gone from connected to distant in a matter of minutes. All because of our stupid powers. Of course. I knew these mutations were just going to be a hassle. Now Fang wouldn't even talk to me. And when he did, he spoke in freaking riddles.

Then it hit me.

Me.

The others.

_We _were going to be okay.

Fang hadn't said anything about himself.

**YOU HATE ME I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS SO FLIPPIN' SHORT. I KNOW. Just…BEAR WITH ME. **

**So, I explained the "light" thing. Hope that was okay and everything. Yeah…if not PM me. **

**I've got some good news…I've almost finished writing/re-writing the ending…So that's exciting. **

**And, uh…How many of you guys would stick with this story through…say…two more installations? **

**Because, I've already written out parts of the sequel and even the outline of the third…**

**Feelings on a…trilogy? Is it too early to bring this up? Did I just make it awkward? **

**Along with those above, here are some more questions to ponder while awaiting my next update: **

**What is Fang's vision? **

**How are ya'll feelin' about the Fax going on? **

**What's been your favorite part SO FAR? (Chapters 1-16)**

**Do you hate me for making this so short? Sorry!**

**Share with me in a review! And I mean it, guys! DO IT. **

**Peace. **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: So, I now have 208 reviews. **

**Do you know how incredible that is? Seriously? That's amazing! You guys are so freaking cool! **

**SO, I'll paint you a picture. I'm sitting in math class, droning out my teacher who I seriously doubt has any idea what he's talking about. And I decide, "So, what if he has a no phone policy. He probably won't care because he knows I'm not paying attention anyways." So I get out my phone and I go to my email and WHAM I have so many reviews that its crazy! Forget logarithms. I have reviews to read! **

**I'm glad you guys are willing to follow this story through a trilogy. I'm so excited, you have no idea.**

**BoOkWoRm: YOU ARE AWESOME. Reviewer of the Week! You've checked out all my stories in a matter of days AND left reviews for them all! You are fueling my want to finish this story, so, thank you for being you. **

**Also, thankyouthankyouthankyou to my 200****th**** reviewer, ilovekick4ever1997. Except, that's not your real name, is it? O.o **

**So, thank YOU DoomedToBeACrazyFangirlForve r. And trust me, girl, I am too. (Doomed, I mean).**

**A special thanks to a few of the reviews that stood out this time around: KaiAmazonKnightley, blank'n'yellow, As White As Snow, and lovetheboywithbread. You guys are incredibly inspiring AND crack me up. **

**Okay, cool. Now that I got all of that out of the way, here is, as BoOkWoRm would say, a **_**drama **_**filled chapter!**

**As I write this, I'm listening to G-Eazy on loop. His voice is like heaven. Oh, goodness. **

**Read on.**

I dreamt without Fang.

After he left, I searched his mind frantically until I couldn't reach him anymore, trying to see if he was thinking about his vision. No dice.

So I made the rounds again and made sure everyone else was still sleeping. Then I took two sleeping pills that knocked me out faster than a kick in the head. Is that a saying? I feel like it should be. I mean, it makes sense. Especially in my life.

Oh, well.

In my dream, Fang died. It wasn't even as we were breaking into L.I.G.H.T. or anything. Just, every single time he did anything (cooking, walking outside, turning on his computer), he died in some freak accident. Then, the scene would change and he'd die somewhere else in a more horrible, freaky way.

I woke up after he electrocuted himself with the toaster (I mean, that sounds like something _I _would do, sure, but not him). I levered myself up into a leaning position and glanced around my room, panting.

I'd gotten so accustomed to my dream Fang being real Fang…and that had looked so real…

It was safe to say I was traumatized, so I crawled out of bed and started to get dressed. I mean, it was three in the morning, but they always say the early bird gets the worm.

I'm not even going to point of that that's a pun. If you didn't get it…sheesh, people. You had to have gotten it.

I was starving but figured if I went into the kitchen Iggy would kill me, (perhaps with a toaster, but really, how does that even work?) so I just went into Fang's room and sat down on the bed, trying to forget about Fang being all cryptic and sad and worried about his vision.

I would be here when he got back, and he'd have no choice but to spill.

Fang tried, keyword _tried_, to sneak back in around five. But I was waiting for him. I have to admit, I did doze off for about an hour, but when I heard his window squeaking open I jumped up and tried to look angry and intimidating. Obviously, it didn't work, because a minute later Fang stood at the end of the bed, looking at me with an amused expression.

"You look sleepy."

No! I was supposed to look angry and intimidating!

"Well, you don't," Fang said. "And if you think I'm going to tell you about my vision, I'm not."

He kicked his feet out of his boots and looked at the clock beside me on his dresser.

"Go back to sleep."

I opened my mouth to speak but he leant down and kissed me. He was cold. I looked up at him when he pulled away. I mean, jeez, he hadn't even given me a chance to speak. I was usually the one that talked constantly while he listened.

Now everything was just falling apart.

Fang left the room without another word and a few minutes later I heard the shower running. Did he think that he could just keep a secret from me? We'd promised, no secrets. I had held up my end of the deal. Now it was his turn. He couldn't just not tell me something that was probably really, really important!

But at the same time, I wasn't angry at him. I didn't want to fight. I was worried for him. He made it sound like…well…

He made it sound like he wouldn't make it out.

That just _could not _happen. There was no possible way that Fang died during my mission. I mean, it's _my _mission. If anyone should die, it should be me.

I stumbled to my room and fell into bed. Why did Fang have to make it so complicating? He should trust me. We could deal with our future together. Why didn't he see that? Why did he feel the need to shelter me like a child?

As you probably guessed, I did not want to wake up in the morning. Nudge practically had to uncurl my fingers from my headboard to get me out of bed. Odd, since usually _I'm _dragging _her _out of bed instead of vice versa.

I trudged down the hall, banging on doors to wake up the other sleeping flock members.

Then I shoved into Fang's room to say something terrible to him, I hadn't really decided what yet, to find him already dressing. He was about to duck his head to put his shirt on, but when the door opened he turned to me.

I opened my mouth, hoping something snarky would just fall out on its own, when I really said, "Hi."

What the hell was wrong with me?

Fang gave me a look, grinning. "Hi?"

"Hi," I said again. Then I forced myself to say something else, something that would express how frustrated I was right now.

"I'm…frustrated."

Fang raised an eyebrow.

_Oh, my God, Max, what are you doing? _I thought to myself desperately. What happened to Maximum Ride, word queen?

"I can see that," Fang responded. He took his eyes away from me so he could pull on his shirt.

I glared at him. This was so stupid.

"Do you not trust me?" I finally spit out.

Yes! Way to go, Max. Finally able to speak.

"Where did that come from?" Fang asked, passing me and walking into the hallway.

"You, not telling me your vision. Is it because you don't trust me? _I _trust _you_."

Fang turned around and looked at me. "Max, please."

I don't know what he was pleading me for. Please stop worrying about him? Please stop trying to understand the truth?

He looked at me like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. I watched him walk downstairs in silence.

"Max, he'll tell you when he's ready," a voice said from behind me. I turned around to bump into Iggy, who'd just came out of his room.

"You don't even know what we're talking about!" I exclaimed angrily.

Iggy fell silent.

Oh, no.

No freaking way.

"_You told Iggy_?"

• • •

I successfully avoided talking to or looking at Iggy and Fang for all of breakfast. I kissed my mom and Ella goodbye and making sure everyone else had their stuff, but completely ignored the two of them. They accepted it silently, Iggy looking a smidge guilty.

The others noticed that Iggy and Fang were the new owners of my incredibly cold shoulder. I hadn't given either of them a word or a glance since I'd discovered that Fang had trusted _Iggy _with his damn vision and not me.

Of course, my mind was still reeling. Iggy? What was so bad that I couldn't know, but Iggy could? How could he keep something from me then turn around and tell Iggy?

All these thoughts were eating away at me, and by the time we were ready to leave, I just wanted to get in the air and have something else to focus on. Like, finding the L.I.G.H.T. Institute.

I motioned for Maya to take off first, and she ran, jumping into the air.

Beside me, Gazzy braved the inquisition, "Where are we goin', Max?"

"Louisiana," I said shortly, but ruffled his hair so he wouldn't think I was angry at him. "Big branch down there."

Gazzy nodded. Then, he started off down the yard, spread his wings, and took to the air. One by one the others followed, until I was left with the two boneheads.

"Max," Iggy started, but I took off. In seconds I was in the air, higher than any of them, just me, my wings and the air.

Stupid Fang.

I'd worry about him later.

• • •

"I've made a decision," I said softly. Fang sat across the fire from me, his eyes closed. He was propped up against a tree. I'd declared to the entire group that I was taking watch, and he'd been smart enough not to tell me no.

Though, Angel had curled up beside him instead of me. Which only fueled the fire inside me. Gazzy was off to my left, Nudge was up in the tree above him, and Iggy was in a large oak behind Fang. Maya and Holden were to my right, both wanting to be near the fire.

Though I'd taken watch, Fang still wasn't sleeping. I'd caught him taking a few short glances in my direction, until it was to the point where I couldn't take it.

So I finally spoke to him, for the first time all day. Fang's eyes opened and focused on me immediately. I cleared my throat, and kept my voice low and steady, as to not wake the others.

"If you don't tell me, you can't come on the mission," I said.

Fang's face stayed impassive. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Better than going without knowing what exactly the danger of the situation is."

"You can't tell me I'm not invited," Fang said seriously. "It's not a birthday party. God, Max, get over yourself."

_Myself_? As if this were about me? As if I wasn't going crazy worrying about him? That just pissed me off to no end. What the hell did he think this was about, anyways? Because the only reason I was ignoring him was because I couldn't just let him keep something from me and not care. He _had _to understand that.

I looked away, staring off into the darkness of the forest. Sitting this close to the glow of the fire only made the rest of the woods appear pitch black.

"If your going to keep secrets from me I can't let you be with the group."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am," I said.

"Well, good for you," Fang said, leaning back against the tree and closing his eyes. "But you can't just tell me not to go."

"It's my fucking mission, so yes I can," I hissed.

Fang's eyes opened.

"I don't care who's mission it is. You can't threaten me into telling you. You gave me an ultimatum? Fine, I won't go."

I felt anger bubbling up inside me. "That's not fair."

"Whatever," Fang mumbled, not looking at me. "Life isn't fair."

"It's your watch," I ground out suddenly. My voice had risen. Not to the point where I was yelling, but loud enough to carry up to Nudge, who shifted and sighed.

I just had to get out of there. I couldn't handle it. If he didn't want to tell me, _fine_. I wouldn't talk to him, either. I stood up and headed into the woods. Fang didn't stop me.

And he didn't come after me.

He was really failing at this whole _boyfriend _thing.

• • •

We were in a small fast food joint in southern Missouri.

I looked across the place at the clock and saw that it was almost nine. "Alright guys, let's get going. Lots of flying ahead of us."

"Lucky Holden doesn't have to do anything all day," Gazzy mumbled.

Holden made a face. "Of course. I just get to be carried around like a princess all day, and hope no one drops me."

I snorted, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.

Gazzy stood up, slurping the rest of his soda. Iggy leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long arms until he almost bopped an old lady in the head. Nudge yanked on him as she stood up.

They all moved in slow motion outside and down the street towards an abandoned parking lot oblivious to the naked eye.

"Nudge." I nodded up, motioning for her to lead the way. Sighing, Nudge spread her wings and ran down the pavement a few yards before taking off.

I watched the other follow her and slowly gain altitude until they were blurry forms hovering above us. Iggy took off, carrying Holden.

It was just Fang and I.

I was about to take off, but Fang grabbed my wrist. "Max."

I sighed. "What?"

He moved forward, pulling me so I was facing him. I looked up at him.

"Do you remember when you told me you trust me?" he whispered.

I nodded reluctantly.

"I need you to trust me about this," he said. "The vision…it isn't important. I won't let anything happen to you guys."

"We said no secrets," I accused.

"Trust me, Max," he said.

I watched him.

"Okay," I mumbled, tightening my grip on his hands. "Okay, I trust you. I just wish you wouldn't keep it from me."

"It's nothing. Let's just both forget about it."

I closed my eyes.

"Can you _promise _me that we're going to be alright?"

Fang kissed my head. "You'll all be alright."

"_No_," I said. "You and me. Us. _We _will be alright?"

When he didn't answer I pushed away roughly and ran down the parking lot, flinging my wings out and taking off.

I refused to cry. I refused to look back at him.

And I absolutely refused to accept the fact that we were walking right into a death trap with Fang's name no doubt written all over it.

**A/N: I HAD A SNOW DAY TODAY! **

**Bring me to 220 and I'll update again today. **

**Go, go, go!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: STOP.**

**GO BACK AND REVIEW FOR CHAPTER 17. **

**Now read. :)**

**So. Here ya go. Thanks, as always, for the incredible reviews!**

"We want to blow it up," Iggy said simply.

Fang was sitting next to him, also looking at me. Apparently, Fang and the two pyros had been scamming about this for a while without including me. _They seem to talk about a lot without cluing me in_, I thought sourly.

Maya was leaning back on the tree beside me, listening intently but not speaking. Nudge and Holden were sitting across the fire from us, under a big tree, playing cards. Angel had crashed already, laying with her head on her small bag, her face peaceful but still covered with grime.

We were all exhausted. It had taken a lot out of us, but around midnight we'd crossed over into Louisiana. We were sleeping tonight in a secluded forest. It wasn't the best, but it was fine. Looking at Angel, I was ready to crash myself.

Gazzy grabbed my arm, looking up at me from my other side with excitement in his bright blue orbs. "Max, we already have it planned out. The bomb would more or less destroy the entire building. Reduce it to rubble in a matter of minutes. We could do it safely, too, Max."

Gazzy reached into his backpack and pulled out a rumpled paper with a diagram. "We could make some kind of remote detonator, then plant the bomb in the middle of the lowest level of the building. It would collapse from the inside out and go up in flames before anyone even knew that we'd broken in."

Fang sighed, taking the diagram from Gazzy. "It looks really good on paper…but there are a lot of things that could go wrong."

"We can't just waltz in and massacre everyone," Maya added. "There's got to be hundreds of people in that one branch alone. Experiments, too."

"We get them out," Gazzy said, looking more and more confident the more we talked about it. That was why, usually, we didn't include the younger kids in the plans. Especially Gazzy, the conspiracy theorist. "We can safely get them all out of there, give the scientists over to the FBI, CSI, whatever, then blow up the building and all their files and hard work and lock up the bad guys forever!"

_I don't like this,_ Fang thought. He knew I'd heard him.

I nodded, drawing in the dirt with a small twig. "There's too many holes. What would we do about security? Erasers? What about getting the police involved? Do we even trust them? And what would we do with all the other experiments?"

"Listen," Fang said, a bit calmer than I was. "We've got to figure out a way to make it absolutely fool proof. Or else we're screwed."

I bit my lip.

_Remember what I said about connections, Max? _

I sighed, hearing the Voice drone in my head.

_Connections are important. Especially now, _it said.

Well so what? _Yeah? _I thought.

_Who are your connections? _

_I don't know_, I replied.

When the Voice didn't respond, I slumped, looking at the others bleakly. "Connections," I murmured, tracing the word in the lose dirt in front of me, probably spelling it wrong but eh. I live on the edge. I scratched it out and looked up, an idea sparking in my mind. "We need someone who can work from the inside."

"Jeb?" the Gasman offered. The thought of trusting Jeb with something this dangerous made my stomach turn. I shook my head.

"What about…what about Harrison?" Iggy asked.

I paused. "He did work there before," I said slowly. "He'd have connections, probably some influence with people in high places…"

I looked at Fang, who appeared indifferent. He looked up into my eyes. "That's not enough."

"Even if we could somehow get Dr. Harrison to help us," I said, thinking out loud. "We'd need someone else. Someone we really trust."

_So, not Fang. _I thought. I could feel his glare, but ignored it.

Everyone was really quiet, thinking. I heard Nudge exclaim as she lost _again _against Holden at whatever game they were playing.

"It wouldn't be hard for me to get captured," I said finally. "Then I could work from the inside…"

"No," Fang said immediately.

"Why?" I retorted, raising an eyebrow, silently daring him to tell me not to do something just because he loved me or whatever. Especially in front of the others.

"If they have you, they'll know we lost our greatest fighter. They'll know our weaknesses. We can't let them have any advantage over us."

"It won't work," Iggy agreed.

I groaned, letting my head fall into my hands.

Maya crept closer to the three of us. "I think…I may be able to help."

• • •

"No," Fang said.

"It's the best we've got."

"Max, seriously-"

"What other choice do we have?" I asked. "If she gets captured, then they'll think that the flock is down one great fighter and won't be as careful. We'll have the upper hand."

Fang shook his head, looking around the dingy motel room. From what we'd gathered, this place hadn't been open for business in years. The walls had a horrible green paisley print on them and the beds looked the opposite of inviting. Iggy was sitting at the small dusty table, working on his and the Gasman's latest creation, while Gazzy ripped up the metal springs from under the bed. Just then, Angel pulled Maya out of the bathroom. I inspected her.

"Nice," I said. Picking up the strand of her hair that had previously been bright pink.

"You're going to have to ditch the purple sweater," Fang said with reluctance, sounding grouchy. Boo-freakin'-hoo. _Sometimes_, things don't go your way. Sometimes, you don't tell your girlfriend the truth, and sometimes, she gets pissed about it. Live with it. "They'll know you're not Max the moment they see you."

"Or maybe you could just go outside and roll around in some mud," Gazzy offered.

"I'll give you a black eye," Holden called over to us.

I shot him the bird as Nudge laughed loudly from the bathroom, where she was cleaning up the hair dye.

"How's that bomb coming?" I asked.

"It's not," Iggy muttered. "We need more time."

"And more supplies," Gazzy said. "If we want it to be effective but reasonably small, it's got to be packed."

"Too bad we used up all that C4 we stole," Iggy mumbled. I raised an eyebrow, but both boys ignored me.

"Two days," I said. "That's all we've got."

I glanced at Fang, wishing he would show some kind of emotion. He didn't.

I walked back over to the others. Nudge was on Fang's computer, looking for a local pizza place's number.

"You can't get it delivered," Maya pointed out. "We're squatting in a deserted motel."

Nudge frowned. "We'll have to fly out to get it, then." She looked at me. I nodded. We needed to eat, no matter how risky it was.

"Have you talked to Jeb or Harrison yet?" Fang asked me. His jaw was tight when he said _Harrison._

It sure sucked to be us sometimes.

"I've been trying to push that off for as long as possible," I admitted. Asking anyone for help, especially Jeb, was not something I did lightly. I was almost ready to just try this on our own…But I knew that wouldn't be the smartest battle plan. Still, that didn't make me feel any better about it.

I was really close to just telling the others that I wanted us to try this on our on…but it was time for this to end. And, if in order for it to end, I needed to swallow my pride, I'd do just that.

I was wrestling Harrison's file out of my bag when Gazzy said, "Pack it up, Ig. Max, we've got company!"

Remember when I said it sucks to be us?

Yeah.

"Only about thirty," Fang said, turning away from the window to look at me.

"Why would they send so little?" Angel asked.

"Because their saving the best for last," I mumbled. Fang nodded. _They want a good show._

Fang was, of course, right. Like Jeb always said, this was a game and we were the pawns.

"Alright, Fang, you've got Holden," Iggy said, standing up. He shoved all his supplies into his pack and zipped it up. "Where are we going?"

"Out the door, straight ahead. From there out at twelve o'clock about twenty yards, then up before you hit the trees. Flying southeast."

Iggy nodded, and the others lined up at the door. Behind Fang, me bringing up the rear.

"Take them out as quickly as possible and then get into the air, in case there's a second round headed our way," I said. "I'm serious. No dawdling."

I glanced at Fang. He and I both knew, of course, that if we were going to get any closer to the L.I.G.H.T. we'd need to get rid of the Erasers, just in case they followed us.

Fang stepped out, throwing the door open. As he rushed forward the others trailed out, launching themselves into the fight with firm determination.

Gazzy was out the door a second before me, screaming like a maniac with a ridiculous war cry. I would've laughed, if the situation hadn't been so serious.

I'm right behind him until something sharp slices into my calf, making me cry out in surprise. I looked down to see blood immediately spreading on my pant leg. My attacker proceeded to grab my leg, hard, right where he'd just sliced it open. I howled, kicking downward in his face, and he yanked on my leg, hard. I grunted, falling to the ground. I reached up and punched him, hard, then threw my good leg into the middle of his chest making him lose his breath.

He fell on top of me and pressed me into the ground, jerking my head back by my hair.

Something flat and cold pressed into my throat.

He had a knife.

Just _perfect_.

**A/N: So…Right now I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be until the end…could be five, could be ten. I dunno. **

**Hey! Your homework for today (since I have to go write my research paper that I refused to do earlier this week) is to go read a few of my other stories! Tell me what you think! Or even tell me an idea for a one-shot. **

**Summary for **_**Different**_**: Fang teaches Max a little something about being different. Post-TFW. Fax. **

**Summary for **_**His List**_**: Fang wanted her. It was stupid and illogical, but he wanted her. Why was he just realizing this now? Post-SOF. Fax.**

**And, another one of my stories practically NO ONE has read is called **_**What Can You Do? **_**I mean, yeah, there's a character death, but it's just Dylan. Come on. **

**Uh, and then there's **_**Internet Fiasco**_**. So, yeah. Get to it, folks! Homework is due ASAP. **

**I'm currently writing the ending of **_**Risks**_**, the sequel to **_**Risks**_**, a new one-shot, and the last chapter of Internet Fiasco. I have my work cut out for me! **

**Who wants to know the name of the sequel? Brownie points for reviewing…**

**I'll update on here again by **_**at least **_**tomorrow, so be looking for that.**

**REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Is it just me, or is NO ONE ELSE on here updating ANY of their stories? Maybe that's just the ones I follow, but still.**

**248 reviews! I am amazed. **

**You all left really incredible reviews. I don't have a lot of time, though, so I'll make it quick. **

**Thanks for checking out my other stories, by the way!**

**Here's chapter nineteen! It's getting close to the end…But no worries, this story will be twenty-something chapters. **

**Read on. **

The Eraser pinning me down growled, pressing the knife closer to my throat.

"Too bad we can't kill you yet," he hissed. "I would love to do the honors."

I took a deep breath, trying to control myself.

"But they wants you to be conscious when they kill you," he continued. "They made us promise not to injure you _too _badly."

"Well," I whispered. "Good thing I didn't promise not to hurt _you _too badly, or we'd be at a stalemate."

Memories of Jeb's training flashed into my mind.

_Fang was crouched over me, holding a large twig to my throat - our fake knife, in this practice round. He was kneeling on my hands._

"_A knife limits mobility and force," Jeb said calmly from the side of the yard. The others sat around him, paying close attention. "If you struggle too much, you could end up hurting yourself in the process. Get out of it, Max." _

_I pushed against Fang, trying to wiggle my hands free. If I had hands I could knock him off, no problem. _

_Jeb blew a whistle. "Maximum! You don't need your hands. Your body is your weapon. Use your weapon."_

_I growled in frustration. Fang wasn't letting up, and my hands were cramping. Not too mention I had no clue how to get out of this. I'd already tried bucking under him to get him off, but Jeb hadn't liked that. He told me too much struggling and the knife would've sliced my throat already._

"_Get out of it, Max."_

_Fang leaned down over me, grinning. He was just enjoying this way too much. Any day he got to dominate me in battle was a good day for him. _

_So when he leaned down until our faces were inches apart, I did the only thing I could think of. I head-butted him. _

_Our heads conked together, hard. Dang, I needed to learn how to do that more effectively. I rolled us over, grabbed his wrist and pinned it above his hand. He dropped the stick in the grass. _

_I looked up at Jeb and raised an eyebrow. _

"_I'm out, Jeb."_

Oh, I seriously did not want to head-butt this guy. But…

I somehow managed to hit him hard enough so his grip let up, and I executed the same move I'd done to Fang when we were eleven. Then, as I sat on his chest heavily, I punched him, breaking his nose.

I leant forward, snatched his knife up from the ground and held it to his throat.

"Not so fun from the other side, is it?" I sneered.

I lifted he knife and hit him right between the eyes with the handle. His forehead began gushing blood and he turned his head, groaning. I punched him again, knocking him out. I groaned, standing up. My leg was killing me.

Another Eraser approached me and I decked him in the jaw. I kicked his side and he stumbled, bumping into Iggy, who was locked in combat with another furry monster.

Ig turned quickly and punched the Eraser who I'd kicked in the face, making him go down. Then he turned back to his opponent and snapped his knee with a hard kick.

Fang had cleared off about five already. Nudge and Gazzy were working together a few yards away from me, taking on almost ten. Maya and Holden were in the air. Where was…

"Knock them out," I heard an innocent voice command behind me. I spun around to see Angel pointing at a cluster of four or five Erasers. The Eraser closest to her, who had been intending to rip her throat out, now turned and attacked his cohorts.

Yep. Still not used to her doin' that.

I glanced down at my leg, seeing my jeans covered in blood. It hurt to stand. I took a deep breath and, favoring my leg, launched myself at one of the last Erasers still standing. He looked utterly shocked that I'd just pounced on him, and I didn't give him a chance to recover. Just as we hit the ground, I brought my fist back and let loose on him, at _least _five good ones.

I am so cool.

He was out after I jerked my elbow into his jaw and slammed my palms down on his ears.

I pushed myself up and limped towards the others. Iggy finished off the last one as I demanded an update.

"Fine here," Nudge grumbled, wiping her bloody nose on her dirty sweatshirt.

"Sprained wrist, but I'll live," Gazzy said.

"Shoulder," Iggy mumbled, and Fang went over to help him pop it back into place.

"Uh, Max?" Maya asked.

I glanced at her.

"Your leg," she said, pointing.

I turned my eyes down to leg. "Yeah, that goober had a knife on 'im," I said, scanning the sky and completing a 360. "We gotta get out of here."

"Iggy needs to look at that," Gazzy said. "Your covered in blood."

"Later," I said. "Let's move out."

My plan of moving on foot was ruined by the fact that I could barely walk. We decided to fly out of range, find a secluded cave or something and just rest up.

Finally, we landed in a easily defended clearing in the woods just below the northern border of Arkansas. The small clearing was surrounded by trees and huge boulders, and one side was backed up against a rock cliff. We could hear rushing water in the distance, and after a minute of exploration, Gazzy confirmed there was a spring coming out of the cliff about a mile away, creating a stream.

The kids, now completely over our rough battle, began complaining about not having any food. I sent Nudge, Maya and Iggy off to the nearest town to get food for the rest of us.

Fang sat down in front of me, giving me a look. "Ig never looked at your leg." He said it accusingly, as if I had purposefully sent Iggy away so I could stay injured. I rolled my eyes.

"At least I don't hide the fact that I'm hurt until I'm unconscious."

Fang smiled just barely. "Come on," he said, standing up. I gave him a look and thought, _You really think I'm gonna follow you? _

Fang rolled his eyes. He leant down and scooped me up, then looked at the others.

"We're going to go clean Max's leg up," Fang said to the others. "Holden, call out if you need us."

Holden nodded. Gazzy was instructing him on how to connect which wires to their counterparts. God, that was the last thing we needed - another pyro. Angel was sitting a few feet away from them, drawing doodles in the dirt.

Fang walked through the woods towards the sound of rushing water. Finally we reached it; a small, trickling spring coming out from the rock cliff. A small pool of spring water was before us, probably two feet deep and completely clear. From there it flowed on down the hill and into the woods in a small stream.

Fang set me down by the water. He kneeled next to me.

"Unbutton them," he instructed, and I did. Fang pulled his backpack off his shoulders and pulled out a First Aid Kit. He slowly pulled my jeans off, being careful of my leg, and then set them aside.

Fang looked down at my leg. Thankfully, the cut hadn't been too deep, and the gash had clotted and began healing on its own without draining me of too much blood. Fang took out a piece of cloth from the kit and soaked it in the water, then touched it to my injury.

I cursed, grabbing his wrist, "That's freezing!"

"What did you expect? It's a spring."

"Just, help me put my leg in it," I said, scooting toward the shallow pool. "You know, just, submerge it all at once."

Fang put one arm under my knees and the other around my back and helped me move toward the spring. Then he gently let my leg submerge in the freezing cold water.

I exhaled sharply, grabbing his shoulder. "Shit, that's cold."

Fang began washing my leg and I leaned back, placing my hands on the ground behind me as I propped myself up. He dumped antiseptic onto the healing wound - who knows where that knife had been, yuck - and then dried my leg with one of his shirts. He started wrapping gauze around it when I realized something.

"Guess what," I said, looking up at him.

"Hmm?"

"We forgot to grab me another pain of jeans," I said, laughing lightly. So now I was sitting here, in my underwear and shirt, without any pants to wear.

Fang finished taping me up and looked at me. He sighed. He dug through his backpack and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts. "You should be warm enough in these," he said.

I nodded. Fang pushed them up my legs and I grabbed the waistband and pulled it up around my hips. I tugged on the string until they were secure around me and snorted, motioning to Fang how long the string was.

"You calling me fat?" he asked teasingly.

"You said it, not me."

Fang packed up the First Aid Kit and then looked at me, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. "Okay now?"

I nodded. Fang offered me his hands and helped me to my feet.

"Can you walk?" he asked. Probably because he didn't want to carry me. How chivalrous.

"You calling me fat?" I mocked, giving him a look.

Fang grinned but didn't say anything.

We made it back to the others just in time to watch Maya, Nudge and Iggy land, laden with multiple bags of fast food.

We huddled up in a circle and scarfed down burning-hot burgers, fries, and chicken fingers. When we were all finished, everyone spread out to go to sleep, except for Iggy, Gazzy and their newest cohort Holden, who was surprisingly good at constructing bombs.

Fantastic.

The three of them took turns holding the flashlight above their heads as they continued the tedious work of building their most powerful creation yet. I just hoped they didn't accidentally set it off in the dark while we were all asleep within feet of them.

Fang offered to take first watch, climbing up into one of the trees above us. Angel was laying beside me, her head in my lap as I combed through her curls with my fingers. Nudge slept across the clearing, tucked against a tree trunk. Maya was a few feet away, her back to the rock cliff, her legs brought up to her chest as she stared off, resting her head on her knees.

I looked at her. She really did look _exactly _like me, especially now that she was sporting a blue jacket instead of her old purple sweater. Plus the pink hair was gone.

I don't know why, but suddenly I _really _wanted to know if anything had ever blossomed between her and Fang. I mean, I guess Fang would've told me if it had…or, you know, maybe he wouldn't have. In the end, it didn't really matter, because he was mine now anyways.

But it just bothered me that there could've possibly been something between Fang and my clone. I mean, what does she have that I don't?

It wasn't even like we'd broken up when Fang left. He had said I was the only girl he'd ever love, and so why would he run off to be with someone else? Then again, why would he recruit her at all?

I didn't even mind Maya. She was fine, now that she wasn't trying to kill me. But could I ever really let myself be with Fang if I knew that they'd had something?

Come to think of it, did I even _want _to know if they'd had something?

_We didn't. _

I jumped, almost waking Angel.

Oh, the joys of having a mind-reading boyfriend.

That was probably only about 70% bitter.

_Really, _Fang thought. _We didn't. _

I sighed. _Okay, I heard you the first time, _I defended. But deep down, I was relieved.

_You? _Fang thought after a minute.

_Me what? _

_You and Dylan? _

Dylan. I wondered where he was right now, and if he were, say, throwing darts at a picture of my face.

_No, _I thought. _He tried, but no._

I could feel that Fang was relieved, too. I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back against the tree trunk behind me.

_Get some sleep_, Fang thought. _I'll wake you up for your watch. _

I took his advice and was out in seconds.

**A/N: I'm thinking 260 reviews, please. **

**Tell me what you thought!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Oh hi. **

Fang woke me hours later, though it felt like mere minutes. I gently slipped out from under Angel. The light of early dawn was already glowing through the trees. I watched Fang sit down where I had been, reassuming my place as Angel's pillow. I knew he wasn't going to sleep, but at least he was getting some rest. I jumped up into the tree above them, swinging my way to the top. I scanned the horizon. It was peaceful here; the nearest town was about an hour away. It was warm enough for us to not be freezing out butts off, and yet it wasn't miserably hot.

I wondered how far Iggy and the boys got with the bomb. I planned to spend the whole day flying to Louisiana, then stopping once more for rest and final touches before storming the metaphorical castle.

_Note-to-self, call Jeb. _

_You rang? _

I shouted in surprise. I was still not used to the Voice being back. I looked down to see Fang staring up at me questioningly, probably thinking I'd seen something. I touched my head and he nodded, understanding. I looked around the area again for threats or anything suspicious. Then, I turned my attention to Jeb.

_Jeb. So it's you this time. _In the past, Jeb had told me that he wasn't my Voice, but he could sometimes butt in and use the Voice as a way to communicate. Which, you know, I thought that was just _awesome_.

_Yes, it's me. _

_One question, if you're up for it. _

Silence. For a second, I thought our conversation was over before it even began. Then:

_Yes?_

_If you're not usually my Voice, then who is?_

_Dr. Harrison and I share the ability to communicate with you on a mental level. _

My eyes widened, and I let that sink in a bit.

First off, Fang's dad and my dad could both read my mind.

Uh, awkward much?

Jeb had just unveiled my Voice, and I'm going to be honest: it was more anti-climatic than I had thought it would be. There was no dramatic sequence building up to it. Just Jeb, finally answering my direct question.

But…Dr. Harrison? He had been helping us as my Voice all along? If Jeb was telling the truth, then the picture I had of Harrison in my head was wrong.

_You were going to call me? _

_We need inside help if we're going to stop Itex. _

_We're one step ahead of you, _Jeb answered. He still sounded like the Voice, in my head; completely monotone and serious. But I knew it was him. _Harrison has been stationed there for a couple of days now. _

I sighed. Good. Now all we needed was to finish the bomb and figure out how we were going to infiltrate L.I.G.H.T. without all of us getting captured.

_How are we supposed to get this done without killing hundreds of people? _I wondered.

_Tomorrow the lab is closed to most employees. There is a conclave taking place at noon. The directors from each branch are meeting there. _

I sat and chewed that over for awhile.

When Jeb said nothing else, I leaned back against the tree and tried to relax. The rest of my watch flew by without anything exciting, and when the sun was shining through the treetops down on the flock I jumped down and started waking my merry band of mutants up.

"Harrison's been stationed at L.I.G.H.T. for a couple of days," I said quietly to Fang as we built up the fire. He nodded.

"I know who my Voice is," I continued. I was about to tell him, then I realized: he had never told me about his vision, so why should I fill him in on what _I _know?

Fang raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah," I finished lamely. I stood up and looked around. I could feel Fang's eyes on me, but I ignored him. The others were all slowly waking up, still yawning and stretching.

I clapped my hands together, looking at Iggy and Gazzy. "What do you need?"

"We should stop in a town today before flying to the Itex branch. Ig and I could pick up the last minute things we need for the bomb." I wasn't sure where they were going to find explosives, but then again, they _always _find explosives. Someway, somehow. I was such a lucky girl.

"Holden made the detonator, so that's out of the way. We're going to have a remote detonator and one on the bomb itself," Iggy said, scratching his head. "What's the plan once we get there?"

"They'll be waiting for us, obviously," I said quietly. "We're just going to have to go with it, however it plays out."

"Is this your way of admitting you don't have a plan?" Iggy mocked. I made a face it him, which was wasted. Ugh.

"No," I said. "This is my way of telling you to focus on finishing that bomb, dumbbell."

Iggy rolled his eyes.

Fang came up next to me and thrust his computer under my nose. "This is the place. About three hours from here."

I nodded. "Okay guys, pack it up. We're moving out."

I put my hand on Iggy's shoulder as the others started to take off, following Fang's lead.

"Run ahead about ten yards at two o'clock then up, flying south." Iggy nodded and took off without another word, and I was last. My leg seemed to be fine after the knife attack, so I had no trouble running and getting into the air.

"Max?" Nudge called. "I know we've got a lot of ground to cover, and trust me, I'm really excited that we're close to finishing the mission and stuff, but, uh…I'm really hungry, you know? I think we should get breakfast."

_We need to eat, _Fang thought to me before I shot down Nudge's proposal.

I didn't want to stop, though…We needed to stop taking breaks. My goal was to reach the L.I.G.H.T. institute today and finish mapping out the plan tonight. We'd have to figure out a way to take out the directors first, then help the mutants escape, then blow up the building. Safely. Without killing anyone.

We had a lot to do.

_You need all the fuel you can get, and you haven't had proper calorie intake in days. _

_Thank you, Voice,_ I thought snidely. _Any other healthy advise you'd like to impose on me?_

_Stay hydrated. _

I pictured myself bashing Jeb and Harrison's heads together.

"Fine," I said. "Look out for a food place."

A few minutes later, Angel called, "There's a diner down there."

So, even though I was strongly against landing, we touched down in a small alley and pulled our wings in, attempting to look as normal as possible for children who had been sleeping in the woods for days.

We wasted twenty minutes just ordering our food, and after a while of waiting we all sat down in a large booth towards the back and started to eat.

I kept glancing at Fang, trying to read him. We'd been so distant these past few days…we hadn't shared a dream in a long time. His mind seemed to always be blocked to me, and I wondered if that was because he was constantly thinking about his vision, or just because he didn't want me snooping in his head.

Fang's eyes rose to meet mine, and I tried not to blush. I had been with him for weeks now, but…I missed him like crazy. What was happening to us?

I felt like our powers were meant to bring us together, to connect us in ways we had never thought possible. They brought us closer than any one else, and it was kind of empowering to know that I shared such a complete bond with someone. Especially someone I loved so much, someone like Fang.

On the other hand, the powers were a pain in my ass. And if I could choose whether we had them or not…I wasn't sure if I would choose to have them. They seemed to be causing more problems than solutions.

Fang's leg pressed against mine under the table, and at first I thought it was a comforting, affectionate gesture.

Then I saw the way Fang was staring towards the register out of the corner of his eye.

I scoped the restaurant quickly, only to discover that there was no one inside with us anymore. Not even employees. A minute ago, there had been families sitting around us and workers, taking orders and mopping the floors.

I scanned the room again, and this time something walked by the window that looked into the kitchen. Something had walked right by, towards the door leading into the restaurant. Something that didn't look completely human.

"Go, now. Outside, U and A."

They immediately followed my orders, dropping their food and deserting their drinks to shoot towards the door. Fang was practically pulling them outside and I was right on Nudge's tail, ready to throw her into the air if I had to.

I heard a growl from behind me and I shoved Nudge out the door. Fang saw me, his eyes widening, and was about to lunge to help me when he was attacked by at _least _five Erasers. A large hairy fist reached around and covered my mouth, jagged claws digging into my cheek. Another hand's fingers twisted in my hair and pulled my head back. Suddenly, a second Eraser came into view and punched me forcefully in the stomach. I struggled to breathe as he hit me again, _three _more times. I leant back on the Eraser holding me from behind and kicked both my feet up to nail the one in front of me in the chest. He stumbled and fell, but another Eraser stepped in and painfully grabbed my feet, completely restricting me.

Erasers were suddenly everywhere, surrounding this little café. Nudge got in the air - _yes _- and joined Gazzy, Iggy and Holden. An Eraser curled his wrist around Angel's ankle as she tried to escape into the air with the others and threw her carelessly. She collided with a tree a few yards away.

I bit down on the hairy hand over my mouth, bucking against the two monsters that had me restrained.

"_Fang_!" I screamed, and Fang was struggling to defeat the Erasers who were pounding on him.

What the heck? Where had they even come from?

There were only about fifteen, and the incredible thing was, they were focusing on only Fang, me and Maya - the only three left on the ground. They could've also flown up to attack the others, but they didn't bother. Angel was passed out, laying face first on the ground. Five were around Maya, another five on me and the rest trying to take Fang out.

I ripped my mouth out of the Eraser's palm and screamed throatily, "Angel!"

I watched as Nudge swooped down on my command and grabbed Angel around the waist, hoisting her into her arms. While Nudge touched down for those few seconds, the Erasers that were whaling on Maya, Fang and I completely ignored her. It was so _odd_.

"Go!" I demanded again, and watched as Iggy and the others flew off. At least the Erasers wouldn't be getting them.

But why did they just want us?

Fang had gotten the best of three of his captors, but eventually the one holding me - presumably the leader - pulled out something none of us were expecting.

A gun.

He pressed the gun into my temple. My breath caught. This was something I couldn't wiggle out of. The Eraser barked out an order for them to restrain Fang.

Fang glanced at Maya, who was knocked out and lying limp in one of the monster's arms. Then he looked at me. I gulped.

"It's your decision," an Eraser growled to Fang. "You could fight, or we could put a bullet in her head."

Sometimes you just have to risk it. Sometimes, you have to make the decision that seems most dangerous.

This was not one of those times, not for Fang. For him, I knew there was no choice.

He tightened his jaw and watched me. After a minute, the Eraser holding me captive lowered the gun.

He laughed, a deep, rumbling sound that made my heart sink. "All right, birdies. Into the van."

**A/N: A van? And no candy? What kind of kidnapping is that? Pfft.**

**So, this is my 20****th**** chapter. Feel like reviewing? **

**I hope you all do!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: So, here's the thing. In sitcoms, the married couples always seem to have conversations like this:**

**Husband: Do you want me to do the dishes? **

**Wife: I want **_**you **_**to **_**want **_**to do the dishes. I don't want to make you. **

**For you and I, it goes kind of like this: **

**Readers: Do you want us to review?**

**Me: I want **_**you **_**to **_**want **_**to review. I don't want to make you - **_**but I will if I must. **_

**See how those are kind of the same? But, nevertheless, you guys have been incredible today, and I've seen so many reviews…ALMOST 300!**

**I SHOULDN'T BE UPDATING AGAIN TODAY BUT I COULDN'T HELP IT. **

**Oh, and: BEFORE YOU READ THIS, PROMISE YOU WON'T STOP READING AFTER THIS CHAPTER. **

**This chapter is chock-full of drama and all that delicious stuff. **

**I had…**_**a lot **_**of fun writing this chapter. I think it's a good one. A little emotional, but good. And it's Faxy…which hasn't happened in a while. **

**Don't flip out on me, either. I think there will be two more chapters after this, then the epilogue. **

**NO FANG DEATH, GUYS, HAND ON A BIBLE I PROMISE. Like, seriously, how do you expect me to write a sequel without Fang? I wouldn't even want to try that. **

**So, yeah. We're looking at about 24 chapters as of right now. **

**Then, of course, the second one. But let's not get into that just yet. **

**Special thanks to a few above-and-beyond reviewers: shadeflower927, acap-fax, Hatethesilence312, fangirl357 (thank you, you seem incredibly awesome too, girl), HazelEyesDontTellLies (I try!)**

**Epic Person: You are epic! Thanks for being my 260****th**** reviewer!**

**Greysky3: Let's be friends! You are so incredible! And, thanks for being my 280****th**** reviewer, you are welcome to spam me with reviews whenever your heart desires. **

**Heeeeere we go. **

A really angst-ridden teenager once said, "Life sucks and then you die."

I'll let you in on a secret: That troubled teen was me.

Yeah. Because it's totally true, you know? I mean, maybe _you _don't know, sitting there with your iPod in while you lounge at the computer with your head in your hands. And you're reading this because your waiting for your favorite show to come on or your crush to call (but he probably won't). Your life doesn't suck, not really. Because you've got parents and siblings. You've got an education. You come home from school and you've got a kitchen full of food and a computer already logged on to all your favorite social networking sites. Then you have your phone, and you text and call people constantly.

But is that even enough for you? You, the normal teenager who, in my eyes, has everything that I never will? Is that even enough?

No.

Because your parents don't understand you and don't give you enough allowance, which has got to be considered child neglect. Your siblings are a pain in the ass and you always have to babysit, usually when you have plans.

You hate school, even though it's the best damn privilege you've ever been given. The teachers suck, your classmates are annoying, and why the hell was homework even invented? Huh?

Plus, there's never _any _food, is there? Not any you want to eat, at least. Have you ever actually been starving? Or is that just something you tweet in the middle of History class because you didn't eat breakfast?

Not to mention all of your friends online are boring, posting pictures of their cats or whatever.

And it doesn't matter how many people text you, because that _one boy won't_, so you might as well throw your cell phone away. But you'd never _actually _do that, of course.

For me, it was never that way. I didn't have parents. I took care of five other orphaned children because they were the only people in the world I knew and loved. School was never an option, and when it was, it was never safe or permanent.

Food was a gift. Even when I had food, I didn't have near enough. And you're not doing your job right as a leader if you eat and the others don't, so expecting a meal each day was a _joke_.

Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr and whatever else were all fantasies in my life. Texting? Having parties, sleepovers? Friends?

That was just not the life I was given.

The only privilege I've lived to know was my life. The fact that I was still alive, up until right now, was a miracle in itself.

No, the life I was given: it sucked. Life sucks.

Then, you die.

I woke up to my body being dropped on the hard, cold floor roughly. A loud, raspy voice growled something unintelligible as the door closed, and I looked around the dim room.

"Max."

My eyes hadn't adjusted yet, so I reached out and my hand collided with Fang's chest.

Then I could see him. Fang's eyes raked my bruised body and he looked downright murderous. He lifted the hem of my t-shirt, and I looked down to see that it was now in tatters, revealing my bra and my bare stomach.

_Those degrading bastards_, Fang thought to me angrily. _I'll kill them. _

"Did they hurt you?" he asked somberly, pulling off his hoodie.

I couldn't really remember, so I answer no. That seemed calm him down a bit. I pulled the remains of my shirt off and tossed them aside, shrugging on Fang's hoodie.

"Max," Fang whispered. His hands fell on my naked back before I could lower the sweatshirt onto myself. I looked up at him. "Your wings," he mumbled.

I tried to extend them to examine them myself, and a sharp pain exploded from my poor, feathery friends.

"They broke some of the bones," Fang grunted, gently moving his hands over my feathers. "Not too bad."

But of course, they had been bad enough for him to notice. I winced and pulled the hoodie over my head.

Truthfully, my wings were killing me. Those goons knew where my kill switch was for sure. Yank her wings a few times, break a few small but crucial bones, and you've got a very uncomfortable, very pissed Max.

The door opened again and Maya was pushed in. She was conscious, unlike me, and only stumbled. She spotted Fang and I immediately.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"Fine," Maya responded. "Where are we?"

"The Leading Institute of Genetic Hybrids and Technologies," I said quietly.

"We've got to get out of here," Fang said.

"I hope the others are okay," I said. Fang grabbed my hand. It was really the first affectionate physical contact we'd had in a while, and it felt good to have him next to me.

Maya looked at me. "Do we have a plan?"

I glanced around the room, but Fang beat me to it. "Nothing," he said. "Not trap doors, no windows, no vents. I looked."

That was enough to answer Maya's question. She sunk down to sit on the ground and we all sat in silence.

The door opened a while later and two people walked in: Dr. Irritating-Red-Head from the other lab, and someone I didn't recognize. Another man. They stood before us, Red Head glaring at the three of us distastefully.

"The three of you have caused nothing but grief these past few weeks," the red-headed woman snarled. "I don't care what Harrison says. No more last minutes tests or chances. They're useless. Tomorrow, we'll execute Miss Maximum Ride," she said, leaning down to look at me. "Trust me, girl, I've been waiting years to see a bullet put in your head."

She straightened up, glancing at Fang and Maya. "The last two will be used as a bribe to capture the others."

The man who hadn't spoken jotted notes. Because someone was _always _taking notes in this place.

"Tomorrow then," she said, clapping her hands once. They made a sharp, unpleasant noise that made my heart sink with a sense of finality.

"What, no dramatic villainess speech? 'No I told you so'?" I cried after her.

She turned a her eyes zeroed in on me sharply. She leaned down to get in my face.

"I'll do all of my gloating," she hissed threateningly, "when you take your last breath."

They exited in silence.

_Tomorrow, we'll execute Miss Maximum Ride. _

"Execute," I squeaked out, my eyes meeting Fang's. "Haven't heard that one before."

No one really seemed to know what to say. I had a lot to say, especially to Fang, but I didn't feel like breaking down into a blubbering mess right then, so I said nothing and tried not to be sick.

This was how it was going to end. Without a goodbye to the others, without ever seeing my mom and sister again. Without a fight, without a chance.

Have you ever _genuinely_ had someone who wanted you dead? Who wanted to see you die? It was not a good feeling, let me tell you. It wasn't like I was new to this; people wanted me dead all the time. But it just hit me, right then and there, how awful that was. How terrible it was that my entire flock had grown up without respect or safety from adults. They were always the _bad guys_, always wanted us _murdered_. I mean, we had horrible lives.

It all seemed pretty freaking horrible to me, at least.

Our lives had sucked so bad, but right then I wanted life more than anything.

That wasn't an option for me anymore. I'd crossed into the second part of my endearing little life philosophy.

Life sucks…

And then, you die.

• • •

_He's happy they share a dream that night, if only because Fang can't stand to not hold her right now. He needs his arms to be around her, he needs to know she's there. After days of avoiding each other and not talking to each other…now this…Fang wanted to kick himself. How could he have taken advantage of their time together? _

"_Was this your vision?" Max asks softly while Fang picks her up and holds her tight. She leans her head on his shoulder. _

_The location this time surprises her. They're at the E house, before it was discovered. It looks exactly as it used to, and Max puts her chin on Fang's shoulder and examines the living room around them. _

"_No," Fang says. "If I had seen this coming…"_

_Max pushes her face into his neck, trying to take deep controlled breaths. She's a mess. "I can't believe this is how it's all going to end. Without even a fight." _

_Executed. For some reason, that word makes it seem so much more real to her. They always used "expire" or "retire" in the past, and she hadn't felt like they'd been talking about death. _

_But right now, Max can only think of one picture for execution. And it ends with a bullet in her skull._

"_Stop it," Fang whispers. He has lowered them both to the floor, and he leans against the wall with her in his lap. His arms hold her together as her thoughts fall apart. He can't bear to listen to it. "This isn't how it ends," he says. "It would be too easy." _

"_The others wouldn't know the first thing about getting us out of here," Max whimpers into his shoulder. "I didn't plan it out enough."_

"_I told you I would keep you safe," Fang says into her ear. It is getting harder to think, with all of Max's desperate, scared thoughts running through his head. _

_She pulls back and places her hands on either side of his face, holding his head so he was looking at her. Her worried expression is long gone, and it is replaced by a serious mask. _

"_Don't you _dare _do anything stupid," Max grounds out, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. She's so determined to get the thought lodged in his mind that she feels her eyes get wet with tears. "If it comes down to you having to stop a bullet, you stay where you are and don't you dare put yourself in harms way. Not for me." _I don't deserve it_, she thinks. _

"_Shut up," Fang whispers. "You expect me not to do _anything_?" _

"_I would never forgive myself, Fang. Not if you died for me." _

"_If you leave me…" he can't even finish. Max wants to cry. _

_What put them in this position? Why did this have to be them? No one deserves this, but why _Max and Fang_? Max just wants to rip her hair out. _

_Why? _

_She knows that this time there is no way out. She can't just say, "Stop. I'm done playing. Let me go now." _

_She's stuck in this life, with this destiny. With this death. _

"_Stop thinking," he murmurs. "Please, please stop thinking." _

"_I…can't," Max breathes. "I can't just…"_

"_I'm sorry," Fang whispers._

_She's not even sure what he's sorry for. For leaving her, way back when? For keeping secrets from her? For giving her the cold shoulder for the past few days? _

"_I'm sorry I left," Fang tells her. She doesn't care about that anymore, why can't he understand? She's so over the fact that he left. Now he's here, that's what matters. She hates herself for ever wasting time by being mad at him. All this time that he tried to be with her and she refused, she could have been his. _

_Now she's going to die. _

"_All of it. Everything. I'm sorry," he says. _

"_Don't apologize," Max says, and her mouth pushes to his. The kiss is full of worry and bleakness. This is all she's sure about anymore. She doesn't know if the others are okay, she doesn't know if they'll make it out alive. But she knows that she loves Fang, and she's done dancing around the fact that she wants to be with him. _

_Fang takes control of the kiss, if only because he wants her to _feel _what he feels. He wants her to know that he loves her with his everything. His tongue pushes her lips apart, darting into her mouth. Her fingers push up the back of his shirt and she grips the base of his wings. Fang holds the back of her head, tilting his to get better access. _

_Max feels fuzzy all of the sudden. _

_She's waking up? Is it time already? _

"_Fang," she gasps out, her lips moving against his determined mouth._

_Fang refuses to let her go and pushes her down against the carpeted floor, roughly so she feels it, rough enough to keep her anchored in the dream with him for a few more vital seconds. He bites her lip so she feels that, too. _

_She can't stay for long, though. She pulls her lips away and drags him down, so he's laying on top of her, pressed against her in every way possible. _

"_I love you, Fang," she breathes. "So much." _

_She means it. She means it with her whole heart. It's the only thing she's ever, _ever _been one hundred percent sure about. It feels imperative that he understands, so she says it again. _

"_God, Max, you have no idea," he responds. His eyes are full of grief and something else, something she doesn't know. "I love you forever." _

**A/N: IT'S NOT A CLIFFHANGER SO HA.**

**Review.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: So, we reached 329 reviews! It's so incredible to see that kind of support for this story! Thank you all sooooo much! **

**Special shout out to my 320****th**** reviewer, As White As Snow! Thanks so much. I actually **_**did **_**update three times yesterday. Guilty! I wrote chapter 21 and I was like…I don't want to wait to put this up.**

**Take how much you guys want updates, multiple that by seventeen, and that's how much I want to update. Which is why this story is two chapters from being over already, two weeks after I put it up. Hah. **

**So I was going to give you an authors note last time telling you that I would spoil it if I had too, and I would tell you who dies. **

**But you find out in this chapter anyways! So, that's less work for me I guess. **

**Um…what else… oh. I'm having a **_**teensy tiny **_**bit of writers block with the sequel. I mean, I know what I want to happen, and I already have a bit of it written, but I'm not sure what sequence of events I want…so I'm playing around with it. Currently, I have three word documents with completely different set ups. So yeah. This story will probably end this week, and you can expect the sequel by…April 1****st****, if not way sooner. And no, that's not a joke. Ha. I'm freaking hilarious.**

**OH! Hatethesilence312, your story is up! Go read it! It's called _Falling_. **

**[Summary for _Falling_: Max has fallen many times in the past. But not like this. Never like this. Fax. Post-TFW. One-shot.]**

**Okay. Read ahead, folks. **

In the end, dreams are just dreams, and when you have as good a dream as mine was, well…it's really hard to wake up and face reality.

But somehow we always manage.

We as in Fang and I. And Maya, in this case. We all woke up around the same time, and suddenly it was no longer dark or quiet. The door burst open and Erasers, at least ten of them, came rushing into the room. They teamed up and grabbed us, dragged us to our feet and blindfolded our eyes. Then we walked for a long time, making several turns. Damn…this hell was a labyrinth.

I was pushed into a room, and I only knew it was a different room because the floor changed beneath my feet. The hallways had been a more linoleum feel, and this room felt harder, like real tile. Not to mention the air around me was suddenly cold, uncomfortably cold.

I couldn't see a thing, but I felt myself being pushed until my back was pressed against a hard, cold wall.

Then they ripped off our blindfolds.

It was too bright. Everything in this room was white, pristine, and the bright lights made it impossible for there to be any chance of a shadow. I squinted, my eyes adjusting to the sudden change.

Then other things stood out as well.

Standing against one of the walls was Dr. Red Head and another scientist, a man.

I bet you can guess how excited I was to see _them_.

I was held back as an Eraser clamped a metal chain around my foot. I tugged on it and found that it was secured to the bottom of the wall behind me. My back was against the wall. Literally and metaphorically. You know, because I was about to die.

Fang was on my right, and I could see Maya on his other side. We were spaced about a foot apart, far enough that our chains wouldn't allow any one to be a hero and jump into front of someone else. Thank God, at least Fang wouldn't be able to do anything stupid. To my surprise, Maya was wearing Fang's hoodie. The one I had been in the night before.

I looked down at myself, seeing Maya's blue jacket zipped up to my chin.

_What in the actual hell was going on right now?_

Before I could even voice my confusion or try and figure out what was going on, I heard Dr. Red Head say, "It's time."

_Maximum_.

My eyes flickered.

_Listen to me very carefully. Things are going to be happening very quickly very soon. I need you to trust me. Do you understand? _

I don't know how I knew it was Harrison, but I did. I glanced at Fang. He was staring at me, holding my eyes in his gaze.

"If any of you make the slightest movement, you will be taken down. Is that understood?" I had a feeling the question was rhetorical, since answering would be considered movement. Right?

"First, Maximum Ride," she said calmly. "Then we'll see about the other two." She stepped forward and put her hand on Fang's cheek and he stiffened. "I'm sure you'll want nothing more than to go right after her, correct?"

Then she stepped back, turning away from us. But she continued to talk, directing her words to me. "Do you feel stronger than me now, Maximum? Now that your powers have sentenced you to death?" I heard the click of a gun as she prepared the bullet meant for my head. I gulped.

Oh, God. They could kill me, fine. Not Fang. Not Maya. I would take it gladly if it were between the three of us.

She turned around and handed the other man a gun. "Do the honors, Jackson."

"Thank you, Miss."

But no. They wouldn't kill Fang and Maya. They knew who they wanted dead, and that was me.

I swallowed.

This was how it was going to be? They were going to shoot me here, next to Fang and Maya? I hoped it was fast, over and done with without any pain. What if they did it wrong and the hit didn't kill me? What if I suffered? I'd been shot before, and it wasn't fun.

I pleaded Fang with my eyes to not do anything stupid. He stared at me for what felt like an eternity.

_Max_…

Then his eyes broke away from mine and went down to his hand. His right hand, the one that Maya had just clasped tightly in her left.

On her left ring finger was my ring.

I had absolutely no idea what was happening. If my brain wasn't moving three seconds too slow, maybe I could've changed the way this whole ordeal played out. But my brain _did _register all of this information shockingly slow, and before I even knew what was going on, the gun fired. Loud, deafening, and I expected to be dead but by some freak miracle I was not. Had he missed? Had I been shot?

God, no.

He hadn't missed at all.

In that moment, I realized what had happened. Fang stretched to catch Maya as she went limp and crumbled to the ground lifelessly.

She had switched our jackets, taken my ring, pretended to be me…

It had resulted in her laying face first on the ground, a puddle of blood beneath her.

True to Harrison's word, it all happened really fast after that. Before they could realize their mistake or try to fix it, the door slammed open and I heard three more gun shots. Dr. Red Head and two men fell to the ground unmoving.

Adam Harrison stood in the doorway, a gun held confidently in his hand. I stared at him in shock.

"Tranquilizer," he reassured Fang and I quickly. "Knocked them out, nothing more."

I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. Maya had just _died _for me…She'd just been executed in my place. And why? Why would she do that?

I thought I was going to be sick. Guilt hit me in waves and I doubled over, gasping. Fang said my name but I ignored him. Harrison rushed over to us.

"Max? Are you alright?" I heard Fang calling to me.

I was going to throw up.

Harrison shouted something at me, but I didn't understand. Again, he said, "Get away from the chain!"

It didn't make sense in my head. All I could think about was Maya, laying a few feet away from me, _dead_…

Fang grabbed me around the waist and jerked me closer to him, causing my leg to scream in protest. Ouch. His father grabbed Jackson's gun, the one that had shot and killed Maya, and aimed the gun at the chain that was holding my ankle to the cement wall. One more round was fired and I was free. Harrison did the same for Fang.

"Please don't," I gasped, staring at the gun in Harrison's hand. "She…"

Fang pulled me to my feet, forcing me to act. I stumbled after him, my eyes watering against my will. Oh, God…What just happened?

"Can you fight?" Fang asked me, and my eyes frantically scanned his face. "Max! Can you fight?"

"Maya is dead," I whispered.

Fang gave me a hard, worried look, and then Harrison pushed open the door to a conference room. There, many official looking people sat around a table. I recognized a few of them, having been threatened by them in the past. How lovely to run into the again. Fang launched himself at them. They were normal human beings, so it was easier for Fang to overpower them. Within minutes, Fang and Harrison had taken them all out either by force or tranquilizer darts.

I stood there, motionless, trying to keep the minimal contents of my stomach in and not all over the white carpet under my shaking feet.

"What about the Erasers-" Fang began, but Harrison shook his head.

"They've been taken care of."

"You're actually on our side?" I asked, staring at him.

"Of course," Harrison said, looking at Fang and I.

Fang stared at him impassively for a second, then grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall, toward a bank of windows.

He hefted one open and looked at me.

"My wings," I said dejectedly. I was still in shock, my heart thumping rapidly in my chest, my breathing uneven and dangerously fast. Fang scooped me up into his arms and jumped out the window. Harrison called something to us about restraining or something, but I wasn't listening.

We flew for a while, and I didn't say anything. Fang didn't either. We landed finally and he set me down, grabbing my arms and checking me over.

"Did you know?" I ground out, making him look at me. I finally seemed capable of words, though my mind was still replaying the last minutes in my head.

"Know what?" Fang asked.

"Maya, she took my stuff…she acted like she was me…Did you know she was going to do that?"

Fang shook his head silently, his jaw clenched tightly. "No."

Fang and I landed and he set me down. I looked up at him despairingly.

"She died for me," I breathed in disbelief. What was worse than the guilt that was overwhelming me was the fact that I was _relieved _I was alive. I should be dead, I should be laying in that room, not Maya.

"Stop it," Fang demanded, his voice rough.

"Quit telling me to stop! It's true," I choked out.

"Pull it together!" Fang barked, shooting me a look. "_Damn _it, Max."

I recoiled, staring at him in shock. Did he not get it? Had he not seen what just happened?

"Someone just died in my place," I said finally, tears in my eyes. "That's not right, Fang."

"Don't you understand? She gave you a chance!" Fang shouted. "Don't waste it."

I took a deep breath.

"I know that you're upset, but we have to focus right now," Fang said, softer now. "I don't think we have a lot of time." I looked at him, knowing he was right and hating myself for agreeing with him. It didn't seem right to just brush off Maya's death like that. It had been so sudden, without any goodbye. Did she know how much I appreciated her for being that brave?

_Max?_

I responded in my head, _Angel…Where are you?_

_About to break in, _she said. _We're coming to get you!_

"Come on," I rasped out, dragging Fang toward the building. _West wing, Angel._

Moments later the others landed in front of us; Gazzy holding a dangerous looking contraption, Iggy carrying Holden.

"Where's Maya?" Nudge asked immediately.

I didn't answer. "Come on, we've got to get in there."

Fang grabbed my wrist, pulling me back. "Can you fight this time?" Fang demanded.

I jerked my arm out of his grip. "I'm fine," I answered, but my voice shook more than I would have liked.

_She gave you a chance. Don't waste it. _

I didn't plan on it.

**A/N: It's about to go down! Oh my gosh, guys, are you excited? **

**If so, tell me one thing you liked MOST about this story. **

**Review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Oh, goodness. Any of you who've read **_**Healing a Broken Heart **_**(written like four years ago by yours truly) I'm SORRY. It **_**sucks**___**and I've been meaning to take it down for like a year now…So, yeah. Just forget you ever read that. And yes, greysky3, you reminded me of that last night…I saw that you had read the whole thing up until the end and I was like, "Nooo, I've lost one of my bestest reviewers to a sucky story!" But it has been taken down and so yes…erase that horrible thing from your memory. **

**Welp! This is the last chapter. Next I will put up the epilogue, probably by Sunday. Then, as I said before, sequel starts in April. I'll give a sneak peek of the sequel after the epilogue, and I'll reveal the title :)**

**Hmm…**_**Internet Fiasco**_**'s last chapter is coming along quite nicely…and I PROMISE to have it up **_**before **_**the sequel for **_**Risks**_**. **

**I wrote a one-shot. Yeah. It's called **_**Jumanji and Monster**_**. It's the most random title I've ever come up with, and the summary sucks, but I really do like it. **

**[Summary for **_**Jumanji and Monster**_**: The simplest things. They remind Fang of her. Make Max want him back. Always, always the simplest things. Like Jumanji and Monster. Post-Fang. Fax. One-shot.]**

**So exciting!**

**I just want to say that I NEVER expected to get the kind of dedication and support for this story, and I am stoked to see that you guys actually enjoy it. I have SO many of you to thank for ideas, inspiration, critique, and of course, encouragement. It has been really amazing writing this story and seeing what you guys thought. **

**Um…if you read one of my older one-shots (it isn't up anymore, though) you may notice some similarities between this and that one-shot. So, please just…don't hate. It was actually partly my inspiration for this story, which is why it is incorporated. No hate.**

**Okay. Read ahead, guys. **

I looked around at my flock, standing ready before me and waiting for instruction. I took a deep breath and wiped my cheeks, hoping they couldn't tell I'd been crying.

Then, I shut down my emotions. I couldn't be a mess right now; there would be plenty of time for that later. Now, I needed to get this done and over with and get my family out of there, then I could cry. I began planning in my head, working through scenarios and game plans, hoping a perfect idea would miraculously pop into my head.

But before I could delegate jobs, Harrison busted through the double doors, dragging the limp body of one of the directors. I caught a glimpse of plastic ties around the unconscious man's wrists and ankles.

So, Fang's dad was also good at hogtying. Probably a boy scout or something.

Good to know.

Immediately, the others and I rushed to help him. We needed to get the bad guys restricted and out of there first, so they wouldn't die in the explosion and so that if they woke up, they wouldn't be able to move. Iggy and Nudge were given the job of getting them to a safe zone, about a mile away from the building. They took off, each carrying a body at a time.

It was tedious work, and nothing like I'd expected this mission to be like. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that the building had been blown up with people in it, no matter how evil and sick they were. I wasn't saving them for them; I was doing it for their families, their kids. That's what I had to keep telling myself. I could not be selfish and try to punish them. They would be punished later.

But it was not up to me to decide if they lived or not.

Fang and I ran into the building to help any experiments out, while Gazzy and Holden planted the bomb in the basement and Nudge, Angel and Iggy went to the offices for information on the other ten or so branches.

_This branch focuses more on research and technology alone, Maximum, _the Voice said. _There won't be many experiments here. _

That was a relief. Plus it saved us a lot of time. Fang nodded in agreement, then pushed me back and kicked open a door labeled, _Testing._

The room only contained a few young experiments in small cages. Memories starting hitting me at full speed and I swallowed, rushing to the closest cage to break the lock. Oh, God, this used to be us.

There were only about five. Was this it? In the entire building? They must've been exceptionally important if they were being kept here.

_They are all the first of their kind, _the Voice said in my head, and I couldn't tell if it were Jeb or Harrison. _They are humans who share DNA with endangered or extinct species. _

Fang started unlocking cages, talking softly to the small children so he didn't freak them out. None of them could have possibly been older than four. One that Fang unlocked was a small boy with reddish-brown hair that covered most of his body, and he had a long, trunk-like nose that was covered in dry, wrinkled skin.

_Mammoth. _

How had they managed to do _that_?

Fang shot me a tender look as he lifted a child that was so sickly that she couldn't stand. She was some kind of bird, but with a bigger percentage than us. She was more bird-like than human.

I broke the lock on what looked like a girl's cage, and she was young. Maybe three. Her hair was black and cut short, her eyes cat-like. She had tiny whiskers on either side of her nose.

_Black panther_, the Voice continued.

It went on like that. Once the children were out, they just stood, huddled together, staring at Fang and I in fear. I got to the second-to-last cage and gasped.

"Fang," I breathed, kneeling down. It was only a _baby _inside, couldn't have even been two years old. He had features that made him resemble a…well, I thought it looked like a panda. Round furry ears, black and white fur, wide eyes…

_Yes, Max. Human combined with ailuropodia melanoleuca, or, panda. _

Fang moved next to me and looked down into the cage, where the child lay, motionless.

I had to get it out of there. Fang tried to pull me away - he'd already gotten the last child out - but I shook my head. I was going to get this baby out of here. It would not be burnt and left with all the rubble.

I struggled with the cage until Fang broke the lock for me and lifted the limp infant out of the cage. I wanted to cry, but instead I watched in still silence as Fang carried the small dead child towards the others.

I forced myself to follow him. This was so wrong on so many levels. I just couldn't comprehend how anyone could do this. How anyone could know that they were responsible for this monstrosity. It made me sick.

Something yanked on my pant leg, and I looked down to see the girl with the panther DNA tugging on the fabric with her _teeth_. When she saw that she'd gotten my attention, she asked hoarsely, "Where?"

"Somewhere safe," I said gently, and I grabbed her hand. She looked at our hands and then tentatively gave mine a squeeze, sticking her other thumb in her mouth.

It was terrible. They were just _children_.

Fang and I guided the few experiments out of the building quickly. When the others saw us, their faces went blank. It was hard seeing children the way we used to look. Sick, all skin and bones…frightened out of their minds. Fang still held the deceased baby boy in his arms. He gently went towards Iggy and pulled a shirt out, wrapping the child up carefully. I chewed on my lip, looking at the others.

"Get them away from here," I said to Nudge, and she nodded. Angel, Gazzy and Holden followed her, each taking hold of one or two of the children and leading them away. Angel calmed a few of them with her mind.

Iggy grabbed my wrist. "We saw Maya, inside."

I didn't want to think about that. I couldn't, not if I wanted to focus.

"I'll fill you in later," I replied thickly. He nodded.

"One of the directors woke up and tried to fight," he said lowly. "He wrecked the remote detonator. I mean, obviously it didn't set off the bomb, but…the detonator on the bomb only has a three second delay."

I stared at him blankly for a moment. "Did you get the information we needed?"

"Max, did you not hear me?" he asked, his blind eyes frantic. "This means…"

"I know what it means," I said softly. "Did you get the files?"

Iggy nodded. "Anything we could find on the other branches, we grabbed."

"Okay," I said. I turned to look at the building. So now the only problem was setting off the bomb. Which would now have to be done manually. In the basement of the building.

There was no way anyone would make it out alive if they went in.

But that was okay. I wasn't supposed to have lived this long anyways.

I just…thought of it as paying Maya back.

• • •

Fang knew what was about to happen, but he was trying not to focus too narrowly on it. He tried to think about the bigger picture: saving the world, saving Max and the others. Surely it was worth it, right?

Right. Fang thought so, too.

When he went over to Iggy and Max, Max was giving him low, deliberate instructions. "You need to get the others away from the explosion. The debris and smoke could be just as damaging as the actual fire, but you knew that. Call the police. Have the scientists we took out of the building arrested. Give the authorities the files that include other Itex locations. Do not let anyone else in the building, even after the explosion to avoid being injured by the structure of the building crumbling."

"No," Fang said.

Max looked away from Iggy to stare up at him. "Don't argue with me."

"Max," Fang said seriously. "You are not going in there."

"It's my mission," she said. "Mine. Not yours. Not Iggy's. Go help the others and make sure they stay back."

Fang shook his head.

It had to be this way.

Right?

Fang pulled her close, and kissed her, wanting to taste her lips one more time. Wishing it didn't have to be the last time, but accepting finally that perhaps it would be. He thought maybe that was okay. For as good a cause as this, to save them all? He knew it was worth it. How could he think his life was more important than the entire world? Than _his _entire world?

_I love you_, he thought. _I can't let you go in there. _

Max pushed him off, looking frustrated. _Well, it's not up to you to _let _me. _

"I'll do it," Fang said. "I can…get out faster than you."

"That's the fucking stupidest thing I've ever heard," Max spit at him, but he could tell she was using anger to hide her fear. "No one is going to make it out of there."

"I can," Fang said. He hoped he could. God, he _prayed _he could make it out. "You can't."

"Don't you dare try to tell me I can't finish my own mission!" Max yelled. She reached up to push him. Before she could though, Iggy's hand wrapped around her wrist and jerked it back.

"Max…"

Then he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against his body, using his chest as a way to keep her wings restricted to her back.

Max looked at Fang with the deepest look of betrayal he'd ever seen.

"This…" she began, but she couldn't even keep going. "Fang, this…"

_This was your vision? _The thought was pushed into his mind. Her voice in his head was so anguished that his heart flooded with guilt.

He wished he could tell her no. But he couldn't. It _had _been. He'd been keeping it locked up for so long, and then he'd told Iggy that when the time came, he had to _promise _he'd get Max and the others out of there. It was up to Iggy.

No matter how against it Iggy was, he had agreed.

Max shoved against him, slowly at first, as if she expected him to give way and let her go. Then she got gradually more hysterical as Fang turned away from her.

_You promised!_

Yes, he had promised. He had promised to keep her safe.

It was a promise he was willing to risk his life for.

"Fang!" he heard her shout, but he took off running into the building, finding the stairs because he refused to take the elevator. Max's voice was lost as he ran deeper into the building. He wished it wasn't the last time he'd hear it.

• • •

"Let go!" I screamed, shoving Iggy's chest hard as he took off into the air. It was harder for him to fly carrying me, even harder now that I was attempting to beat the shit out of him so he'd let me go. But he deserved it, oh God, he deserved it.

I had to get to Fang. I had to get him out of there. This couldn't happen. It was supposed to be me, if anyone. Not…not Fang.

"Max, please stop," Iggy said, his voice rough and miserable in my ear.

"He's going to die," I gasped through tears that were suddenly flooding out of my eyes. "Fang is going to die in there, Iggy. Please, please, just..."

I felt myself shutting down, as if a part of me had just given up. I guess it had. Fang had walked into that building willing. My other half was just…gone. By choice. Again.

I finally reached up and punched him in the face, as hard as I could, putting all my anger and fear and stress into the hit. His grip on me weakened for just a second and it was enough for my to kick out of his grip. I turned myself downward began a descent towards the building. As soon as I unfurled my wings, a thunderous, earsplitting explosion erupted beneath me.

The effect was instantaneous.

Tragic.

Terrifying.

Heat rolled up to us in huge waves and I sucked in a breath, feeling as if I was on fire. Iggy and I both tumbled through the air as shrapnel and debris flew up around us. Smoke was everywhere all of the sudden, suffocating us and making it hard for me to see.

Still, Iggy lurched forward, latched onto me and flew as fast as he could towards the others.

But Fang… I kicked at Iggy's stomach, glancing down through my tears at the huge fire that now consumed the building. No one could've survived that. Not even Fang.

The worst sound ripped from my throat as Iggy finally let go of me. I pushed away from him and he fell onto his side. His face was bloody, his eye swelling. The others were staring at the building. I turned, too, and stared in shock.

No.

I suddenly just couldn't support myself. I crashed to my knees, surrounded by the flock, the young children, and the unconscious directors.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think, I couldn't even begin to comprehend what I'd just lost; my head refused to accept it. Fang was gone, Fang was gone… and what was I, then? Who was I? Where did that leave me?

He'd known. He'd known for days that this would be how it would end, and he had lied to me, and he had made Iggy help him fool me into thinking…

Oh, God…

I wasn't crying. The tears that had been on my face had dried when the heat from the explosion had hit me, and now it had gotten to the point where I was just shaking violently, trying to understand why this was me, why Fang had done such a thing, why Iggy had helped him.

It was unbelievably selfish of him.

My stomach lurched and I honestly thought I was going to be sick, right there in front of everybody. How could I ever get over this? It seemed so freaking impossible right then that I just…I just couldn't do it.

I couldn't live like this.

In the next second, there were hard, calloused hands on my shoulders, lifting me up, pulling me against someone. I was still shaking, tears on my face, and I heard Nudge make a noise in the back of her throat.

Then fingers pushed back my hair and dry lips kissed my head, hovering against my skin for a second.

"Max," I heard, the voice deep and caring.

I clung to him, too completely overwhelmed with emotions to speak, and I just lifted myself up enough to wrap my arms tightly around him and actually began to cry. The others ran forward, piling onto us, and I just…lost it.

_I didn't think it would work_, Fang thought finally. _Good thing we practiced transporting, sweetheart._

"Don't you dare promise me something ever again," I choked roughly in his ear, finally calming down a bit. "The word promise is now completely eliminated from your vocabulary. _Do you understand me_?" I jerked his chin up to look at me.

He smiled, chuckling against my cheek. _Okay. I won't say it, I promise. _

Some things are just hard to quit cold turkey, I guess.

We sat together, laughing, and hugging. It was…over. Finally. It was over. I was just so…relieved. Relieved that my family was here with me, safe. My heart was aching for Maya, that she had to give her life for me and for the others, but she died a hero, and I think that was the only way I'd want to go.

The next hour and a half flew by after that. After a single call to the police, fire fighters were putting out the blazing flames and officers were taking statements from us as the cuffed the scientists. Cameras were everywhere, news stations jumping on the change to cover the story. We gave the files to the police. Inside were all of the other locations of Itex branches.

So it could all finally just end.

The five young experiments were taken to the hospital, where they'd be treated and taught, then probably adopted in real families.

Later that night, we stood on the edge of area where our biggest threat had been only hours before. Now it was covered in ash and rubble.

And my family was here, around me. It felt like the first time any of us had really, truly smiled in a long time.

We'd never felt this before. It was a huge weigh lifted off of all of us, and honestly…What were we supposed to do, now? Try to be normal? We weren't going to be hunted anymore, we weren't going to be tested or hurt or threatened.

We would just live.

Any other problems that came up in the future, well…we could all handle it together. Tonight, though, we'd won. We'd finished my mission. We had done our job.

After a moment of complete silence and utter astonishment, Angel whispered, "We're done."

Then she and Gazzy ran forward and began to dance, throwing ash into the air like confetti. They were _filthy_, but I didn't care. Nudge me, hard, and I smiled, watching her pull Iggy against her next.

Fang touched my waist and I turned to him. He bent his head down, kissing my temple. _I told you everyone would be okay._

I threw my arms around him again, tucking my face into his neck, feeling so overwhelmed and so exhausted and so…lucky.

I don't know. Maybe that was gushy and overemotional. But that's how I felt.

Fang squeezed me tightly against him and I sighed.

Fang.

He was always going to keep me guessing. He was always going to stress me out and push me to the limit and make me want to rip my hair out. He was going to bug the shit out of me and probably break a lot more promises. Most likely cause me to have multiple heart attacks in the future, sooner before later. Maybe he'd be the death of me, but I didn't care.

I was willing to risk that.

**A/N: I hope that didn't suck. Talk to me.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Epilogue: **_**Five Months Later **_

Fang walks through the flock's house, the one they'd moved into about two months back. Max had fallen in love with it the moment they'd toured the two story farm house. It is old and creaky, but Max claimed she didn't care. It's a house they can actually stay in for longer than a few days, a house that is theirs, and it's only a short hour flight away from her mom.

They are all starting school this fall, which makes Fang weary for summer to end. Back to school, trying to fit into a normal life with normal people, again. Except for the fact that this time, everyone knows who they are and _what _they are. Plus, he and Max have a load of new powers…that should be fun. At least they'll be able to find each other at lunch.

Fang maneuvers through the halls, passing Angel and Nudge in the kitchen. Angel is stirring a bowl filled with different ingredients and Nudge is reading instructions out loud. Fang walks past them, trying to look normal.

He really hopes that Max didn't, like, get a vision of him today while he was out. It's impossible to keep secrets from her these days. The guy has to have some brownie points for trying, right?

He takes the stairs three at a time, hurries down the hall to Iggy and Gazzy's room, and sees the two of them and Holden sitting on the futon Max had allowed Gazzy to have instead of a bed. They are watching TV.

"Where have _you _been?" Gazzy asks, shoveling chips into his mouth. Holden chugs the rest of his soda and crushes the can.

"Yeah, you missed the game," Iggy says.

_Newsflash, Ig_, Fang thinks, _so did you. Not like you can watch it or anything_.

"I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" Gazzy asks, always curious. Fang shuts the door behind him.

"I bought Max something," Fang says, carefully blocking his mind just in case Max or Angel is near.

He throws the small black box at Gazzy.

"It's a ring," Gazzy says helpfully to Iggy.

"Did we miss her birthday or something?" Iggy asks wearily.

"You think she's going to like this?" Gazzy asks incredulously, glancing at Fang.

Fang glares at him. "You think she won't?" he demands. Gazzy puts his arms up in surrender.

"I just meant it doesn't really seem…like her. Sheesh. Who peed in your cereal this morning?" Gazzy mumbles. Fang ignores him. He holds out his hand and Gazzy tosses him the box again. Fang opens it, looking down at the simple ring. It's really shiny, girly. But Fang thinks that for something this serious she won't want a black leather ring with spikes.

The door flies open behind him and Fang quickly shoves the ring into his pocket. Thank God she hadn't transported to them instead.

"Where have you been?" Max asks him, raising an eyebrow.

She is making this very hard for him.

"Flying," Fang says, trying to keep his cool. "I left a note."

"Where? I didn't see one."

"On Gazzy's bed," Fang says.

"Oh, yeah," Gazzy adds slowly. At least he is playing along. "I forgot to tell you, Fang went flying."

"_Okay_," Max says. "Come on, we've got that…project…thing."

She leaves and Fang turns to the others, sighing.

"We haven't even started school yet," Holden accuses. "You don't have a project."

Fang glances at him. "No, we don't."

He transports to Max's room, because what's the point in walking if you don't have to? The box feels like it is burning a hole in his jacket pocket. Fang walks over to Max, who is pushing one of the windows open.

"Is it just me, or is it really hot today?" Max asks softly, leaning out the window to catch the breeze. _It's you_, Fang thinks. But she isn't listening to his thoughts, which is good, because she probably would have smacked him. The gentle breeze blows her long hair and Fang wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her in.

"Don't jump just yet," he says. She smiles, stepping away from the window.

"Where were you, _really_?" she says suspiciously, turning around. She pushes her arms around his neck and leans against him.

"Flying," Fang insists. He leans down and kissed her, distracting her.

"Mhmm," she hums against his mouth. Her fingers wiggle into his back pockets, holding him closer to her.

She pulls away suddenly, holding up a small white piece of paper.

"We'll just check this receipt and see what you were _really _doing-"

Fang lurches forward to snatch the paper out of her hand, but she shakes her finger at him.

"Ah, ah, ah," she says. "Lying is bad, Fang. _Family doesn't lie to family_." She grins and unfolds the paper torturously slow.

Fang, having no plan B, resorts to the best distraction he can muster. He shoves her roughly and hears her back hit the wall with a soft bang. She opens her mouth to yell at him, her face screwing up in fury, but he presses himself against her, grabs her face with both hands, and kisses her with all his might.

Max sighs, relaxing against him. Fang's tongue dips into her mouth and his hands drift down to hers. He fights the receipt out of her still-clutching fingers.

He pulls his mouth away and looks down at her.

"What are you hiding from me?" Max mumbles, looking up at him hurt.

Fang grabs both her hands.

"Okay. Here goes nothing," he murmurs under his breath. Max raises an eyebrow.

"Max, I really like you," he says. She makes a face at him. "I think that if we get to know each other a bit more, we could really have something…"

She thumps him in the head.

Fang chuckles, ducking away from her fist.

"What are you trying to do?" she demands.

Fang kisses her nose then her chin then her mouth, then pulls away from her, leaving her leaning against the wall, watching him. He fumbles for the box in his pocket.

_What if she says no?_

He looks up, meeting her eyes. She hasn't noticed the box yet, so she stares back at him curiously.

"I can't imagine life without you," Fang says honestly, his eyes locking with hers. Max nods gently, as if in a trance. He swallows, which is suddenly a really tough task. "I don't want anything_ - anyone - _else, Max."

She nods again, almost frantically. Her eyes are wide, her smile wider.

Fang pulls her body to him, lifts her up and backs her up against the wall. He reaches one hand up to caress her cheek softly.

He leans his forehead against hers. Max looks up at him through her eyelashes.

"Max…" he trails off.

"Fang…?" she responds.

_What if she says no?_

_What if she says…yes?_

He holds the box under her nose and opens it. Max's eyes flash down to the glittering diamond that adorns a silver band.

"Max, will you marry me?"

She rips her eyes away from the ring to look at him, shaking her head.

"No."

Uh.

…What?

Fang's going to be honest: this isn't the answer he had been expecting.

"No?"

"No," Max responds sternly. "You didn't do it right."

"_How _did I not-"

"You didn't get down on one knee," Max says pointedly, her eyes darting to the ground and back up at him. Fang huffs.

"Seriously?"

"Fang," she says, her voice completely serious. "You grabbed me and shoved me against the wall. Are you mugging me or asking for my hand in marriage?"

He sighs, dropping her to her feet. He steps back and kneels down.

"Max-"

"Now grab my hand," she instructs.

Fang grabs her hand.

"The other one, you idiot, the ring goes on the left hand."

Fang grabs her _other _hand. He looks up at her and brings her hand to his mouth, kissing it where his ring _will _be. She would've been wearing his promise ring, but it had been on Maya's hand during the explosion…

"Max," he says.

"Tell me you love me," Max demands fervently, her eyes shining.

"I love you."

"Tell me again and mean it."

"I love you, Max," he says. "Please just shut up and marry me."

She stares at him.

"Well?" he asks. It is kind of nerve-wracking just sitting here.

She makes a face at him. _You told me to shut up._

Fang groans. Right.

"Maximum Ride, I love you. Will you marry me?"

He never thought it would take three proposals to get a yes out of her, but she finally nods and tackles him to the floor, smashing her mouth to his. He finds her hand and slips the ring up her finger, and then she pulls her hand away to tangle it in his hair, pushing him down against the carpet.

He doesn't expect them to get hitched this year or anything. He just wants her to be wearing his ring on her finger again, one that is proof of his promise.

Sure, he'd been worried that she wouldn't…you know, _want _to marry him. It could've wrecked their relationship if she wasn't ready.

But she was.

So it was worth the risk.

**A/N: THANK YOU TO: greysky3, acap-fax, Skatzaa, Hatethesilence312, N0601859, my bff is a vampire freak, As White As Snow, epic person, KaiAmazonKnightley, pancakes-for-you, BoOkWoRm, officiallydana, DoomedToBeACrazyFangirlForev er, Spread My Wings and Soar, black'n'yellow, fangirl357, Lime Heart, Animalover99, BabyBlueBeluga, flytothemax97, and SO SO SO many more! **

**Okay. Tearful thank-yous out of the way…**

**SPOILER ALERT:**

**The sequel to this story is called **_**Choices**_**. **

**I really, really like it, so far. A lot of you have been asking questions that I didn't really clear up in this story, and they will all been cleared up in the **_**next **_**one. So, yeah.**

**Especially Dylan. Everyone's like, what about Dylan? **

**Trust me, guys. He comes into play big time in **_**Choices**_**. **

**[Summary for **_**Choices**_**: She almost sobs with relief; the others were wrong. They all said he was dead, but Fang was alive all along and now he's here in her dream, holding her. "You've been gone two years, Fang. Where are you?" Fax. Sequel to **_**Risks**_**.]**

**IN YOUR ****LAST**** REVIEW that you're going to so kindly take the time to write me: **

**1. How did you like the story? The plot? Anything you liked best? **

**2. How did you like the epilogue? Good or bad? **

**3. How do you feel about the summary for **_**Choices**_**? **

**Excited? **

**See you in April. **


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